Darkest 'fore the Dawn
by Restless Goddess
Summary: Sequel to I Will Always Find You. Thanks to the effects of a powerful spell, the Scoobies find themselves with unusual help in defeating the First Evil. Alternate Season 7. Faith/Buffy with some Willow/Tara for good measure.
1. Prologue

Darkest 'fore the Dawn

AN: This is an alternate Season Seven and a direct sequel to I Will Always Find You. Thanks to the effects of the Hellbridge spell, the Scoobies find themselves with unusual help in fighting the First Evil. This is intended to both complete the saga begun in the first story and the adventures of the Scoobies in Sunnydale. Not only that but this should be really fun, and I've been waiting for the opportunity to screw with Kennedy. I mean, how can you _not _hate her?

Pairing: Mainly Buffy/Faith, but with Willow/Tara thrown in for good measure.

Disclaimer: Only the story and any original characters are mine. Everything else belongs to the minor deity that is Joss Whedon.

On with the show!

……………………

PROLOGUE

The light from Willow and Tara's merging of souls tore through every realm within reach. Their cries of joy echoed even in the darkest corners of reality, calling every awareness to attention with the power of their release. Even after the source was calmed, the remnants of the combined souls' power lingered, wisping here and there, dissipating into the stretches of existence. It was shards of these remnants that found each other in the dark, merging and twisting until their light, the light of two souls made one, coalesced into a single, pure being. Once the transformation was complete, and the soul was the being's own, it plummeted to Earth, taking shape as it fell.

……………………

The vampire had become overconfident. He'd managed to avoid not one, but _two _Slayers on several occasions, and was starting to feel like he was invincible. Therefore he had no qualms or worries about whistling to himself as he strolled through the park, looking for unwary stragglers who thought it would be a good night to stargaze.

He was in luck – curled up against the tree, shivering at the cold night air, was a young girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen. She had vibrant red hair and pale skin, and when she looked up at his approach, he saw that her eyes were deep blue, almost indigo in color. She was also naked.

Feeling much like the wolf in the story of Red Riding Hood, the vampire brought his demon face to the fore and strode casually forward. To his surprise, the girl's expression didn't change. In fact, she seemed very calm. Dismissing any misgivings, he stood in his most menacing pose and stared down at his prize.

"Lost, little girl?" he asked. "Don't worry – _I'll _take you home."

The girl didn't respond – only tilted her head to the side and watched the vampire curiously. A moment later, a small smile appeared on her face.

The vampire had no time to be confused. A moment later he was screaming in agony as shafts of sunlight erupted from his body and he collapsed in front of the girl as a pile of dust. She watched his demise with the same curiosity she'd shown his unliving form. She looked up from her perusal of his remains, however, when another figure stepped forward from the shadows.

"Neat trick," drawled the British voice. Spike's stance appeared nonchalant, though there was a stiffness in it that indicated a tinge of fear. Nevertheless, he stepped forward. "Don't worry – I'm not going to hurt you. Hell, it's not like I could," he added, spreading his arms. When he was no more than four feet away, he stopped cold, and his eyes widened.

"What _are _you?" the vampire asked quietly.

The girl, her expression still calm, simply shrugged.

After a moment of indecision, Spike sighed, taking off his leather coat as he walked the last few feet towards the strange girl curled up against the tree. She stood up as he reached her. "Well, come on then," he said, wrapping the jacket around her. She put her arms through the sleeves and zipped up the front. The coat fit her like an oversized robe. "I'd best get you to the Slayer, or she'll never forgive me. Not that I care," he said quickly.

Putting an arm around her shoulder, he looked down at the pale redhead. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "So where you from?" he asked. The girl shrugged again. "Well, you got a name?"

"Aura," she replied, her voice soft and almost child-like.

"Spike," the vampire introduced himself. "Now let's get out of here before you freeze to death."

Obeying without question, Aura followed Spike out of the park and into the night.


	2. Chapter One: Watchers and Witches

CHAPTER ONE: Watchers and Witches

AN: I'm going to be making a lot of guesses about Season 7 here. I only watched it once (for good reason), and I don't quite remember how everything fell into place, so I'm just going to have to piece together what I _do _remember and make up what I don't. Well, on with the show. Apologies for any and all OOC.

……………………

"What's the deal, Giles?" Buffy asked, frowning at her Watcher's expression as he hung up the phone. She and the other Scoobies had all been enjoying their extended period of relaxation since they'd brought Willow and Tara back together, and judging by the look on her Watcher's face, Buffy had the feeling that this lull in activity was about to be threatened.

"That was the council," Giles replied. "And unfortunately they had some very disturbing news for me."

"When don't they?" Dawn quipped sourly. She and Faith had been sitting on the couch playing cards. "And isn't it a bit early for them to be calling you? I mean, if it's ten at night here, it would have to be…" she looked to Faith for an answer.

"Five am," the rogue said, doing the mental math.

"What the hell is so important that they'd be calling you at five am their time?" Buffy asked.

"Better their time than ours," Faith muttered, and Dawn gave a brief snort of laughter. When Giles didn't glare at them, both girls became serious, knowing that if the Watcher ignored a crack at the council, something was _really _up.

Giles took of his glasses and chewed on one of the stems. "It seems that a cult that was thought to be long-dead has reawakened."

"Well that's nothing new," Buffy said, allowing herself a fraction of relief. "What's so bad about this cult?"

"The cult believes…" Giles put his glasses back on and took a deep breath. "The cult follows the First Evil, and the only person who has and ever will have power to fight the First Evil is the Slayer – or Slayer_s_, in this case," he added, nodding to Faith. "Not having enough power on their own, the cultists never went after the Slayer herself, but always focused on the potentials – girls born with latent Slayer powers waiting to be released if called."

"Wait," Dawn interrupted, "if they kill off all the potential Slayers, and Buffy and Faith…if something happens to them, does that mean that there won't be any more Slayers? Forever?"

"If the Slayer line dies out, nothing can bring it back," Giles confirmed solemnly.

Buffy and Faith looked at each other, their fear growing as the Watcher's words sank in. They knew they wouldn't be Slayers forever, and if no one was left to follow them…

"What do we have to do?" Buffy demanded quietly.

"That's the other reason the council called," Giles said. "There are a few potentials currently in their care, and they were hoping to send them here."

"Send potentials to a Hellmouth…real smart," quipped Faith without a trace of humor.

"The council believes that you and Buffy will be able to protect them, and I am inclined to agree. Plus, if Dawn continues her magical studies, we have the advantage of a witch on our side."

"And we have Willow and Tara," Dawn said, having beamed at the Watcher's comment. "We can always ask them for advice or any help they can give us. They probably know something about the First Evil."

"Next time you talk to them, make sure you ask," Buffy said. Normally Dawn would have argued the command, but she refrained, knowing how serious the situation was.

The doorbell rang suddenly, and the Slayers automatically got up to answer. "You think it's Xander and Anya?" Dawn asked.

When Faith opened the door, she replied, "I really don't." Standing on the doorstep was Spike, his arm around a small girl draped in his leather jacket. "Who's the small fry?" Faith asked.

"I'll explain once I get her out of the cold," the vampire responded.

"All right, come in," Buffy said grudgingly.

"Thank you," was the sarcastic reply as the vampire escorted the girl inside, shutting the door behind them.

Once they were in the living room, Giles and Dawn staring curiously at the red-haired child, Buffy asked, "All right, what's this about?"

"This is Aura," Spike said. "I found her huddled against a tree in the park, and I didn't want her to freeze to death. Cold for summer, innit?" he added, though he gave Buffy a meaningful look to let her know there was more to the story.

"Dawn, why don't you take Aura upstairs and get her in some pajamas?" Buffy suggested. "She's only a little shorter than you, so I'm sure you can find something that fits."

"Sure," Dawn said, standing up. She smiled at the girl and held out her hand. Smiling in return, Aura took it, and the young Summers' girl led her upstairs.

"So what's _really _the deal?" Faith asked once the girls had departed.

"I spotted the vampire first. He was sauntering towards her and mocking her, obviously looking forward to his meal." Giles flinched as Spike continued. "She didn't look scared or anything – she just sat there and watched him. Then she tilted her head to the side, and suddenly the vamp burst into sunlight. She wasn't even surprised when she watched the dust fall in front of her." The normally indifferent vampire shuddered. "There's something odd about her. She's radiating with some sort of power…" he trailed off, unable to explain.

"Magic? Like Willow and Tara?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, but about ten times as strong."

"Are you sure there was no one else about?" Giles asked doubtfully. "Someone who could have cast a spell?"

Spike glared at him. "I think I would have known if there was someone nearby."

"But she's just a kid," Faith said, slightly baffled. "What kind of kid has that much power?"

"Look at Dawn," Buffy replied. "She was the Key when she was fourteen."

"Yes, but her power didn't manifest in any way," Giles said.

"'Cause if it did, man, I would've used it," Dawn said, coming down the stairs. "Aura's asleep in my bed. She doesn't talk much, does she?"

"Oy nibblet, what happened to your eyes?" Spike asked, not having seen her since the spell. Dawn rolled the eyes in question and explained what had happened.

"You think they'd know anything about the small fry?" Faith asked, referring to Willow and Tara.

Dawn shrugged. "I can always ask."

"Well, you've obviously got this whole thing settled, so I'm off," said Spike, heading swiftly out the door. When Buffy went to call after him, he was nowhere in sight.

"The bell and collar idea is lookin' better all the time, B," Faith remarked.

……………………

"_Dicere_. Yipe!" The first was the spell that allowed Dawn to contact the two witches; the second was the yelp of surprise at seeing the two of them naked, holding their robes against them in an attempt to cover themselves. "Sorry!" Dawn squeaked, shutting her eyes tightly.

"It's all right – really," Willow chuckled.

"Hang on, we'll get dressed for you," said Tara, mirth evident in her voice. After a few moments of rustling clothes, the blonde witch said, "Ok, you can look now."

Dawn opened her eyes to see that her friends were trying desperately to stifle broad grins. "How are you?" Willow asked.

"Uh, I'm all right," Dawn replied, still trying to recover. "But there's some weird stuff going on."

"Isn't there always?" the redhead replied, her mouth quirking into a smile. "So what's happening?"

"Well, according to the Watchers' council – they just called Giles about a half hour ago – this cult that they thought was extinct or something came back, and they worship the First Evil. The First Evil's only threats are Buffy and Faith – Slayers – so the cultists are killing off all the potential Slayers – girls who have Slayer power that's not activated – in hopes that if anything happens to Faith or Buffy, there will be no one left to be called, and the Slayer line will die out." Dawn took a deep breath and continued. "And Spike brought this weird girl to our house – her name is Aura, she doesn't talk much – and according to Buffy, Spike said that he found her naked in the park and she caused a vampire to burst into sunlight just by looking at him, and that it feels like she's got power – like your witchcraft, but a lot more."

By the end of Dawn's ramble, Willow and Tara's smiles had faded completely. "This is really, _really _serious," Tara said. "Buffy's going to have to find as many potentials as she can and keep them safe."

"The council is already sending a few to us," Dawn said. "They're going to be staying at our house, I think." Tara nodded her approval.

"There should be a locating spell in one of our old books," Willow continued. "It's got specific instructions on how to use it for different targets. You should be able to use it to find potentials nearby." Tara allowed herself a small smile and squeezed her lover's hand. The redhead couldn't help but return the smile.

"What about Aura?" Dawn asked, not wanting to interrupt but knowing she didn't have much time. "Who is she? _What _is she?"

Tara frowned. "I'm not sure. Maybe one of our history of witchcraft books has information on witches being granted with enormous power – maybe even demigoddesses."

"I've been looking through your books," Dawn admitted, blushing slightly. "I've been studying witchcraft. I want to help as much as possible, and I'm getting better every day."

Both witches smiled. "Good for you, Dawnie," Willow said softly. "Just be careful, ok?" The Summers' girl nodded solemnly.

"We'll contact you if we remember anything," Tara said.

Dawn raised her eyebrows. "You can do that?"

The blonde witch nodded. "You'll be able to tell – the gold flecks in your eyes will feel tingly." When the girl wrinkled her nose, Tara smiled slightly. "I don't think it hurts."

Dawn felt herself weakening and sighed. "I gotta go. I love you."

"We love you too, Sweetie," Tara replied softly.

"Say hi to the others for us," Willow added. Dawn nodded, and the connection snapped.

When both witches were back on their bed of clouds, Tara looked into her soulmate's eyes, smoky blue gazing into emerald green. "Aura…" she whispered, suddenly overcome with emotion.

Willow, raw emotion filling her as well, wrapped Tara in a tight hug, pressing their bodies together. "It can't be," she whispered back. "It can't be."


	3. Chapter Two: Introductions

CHAPTER TWO: Introductions

AN: Note that I am going to be taking full advantage of the fact that I can now screw with Kennedy and make her imaginary life absolutely miserable. _This _is gonna be _fun_… As for the other potentials, I forget a lot of their names, so I'll be taking some creative liberties. I'm also stealing half of a line from the Season Five episode "Crush."

And to the person/people who have already figured out who Aura is…SHH!

……………………

Faith was making pancakes when she heard the sound of small feet padding down the stairs. She turned around just as Aura came into the kitchen dressed in a pair of Dawn's pajamas, the cuffs of her pants rolled up so she wouldn't trip. "Hey, small fry," Faith said as the girl climbed up onto a stool and crossed her arms on the counter. "Dawn still asleep?" The small redhead nodded. "Buffy went to LAX with Giles to pick up some potentials. Guess that means we get the first pancakes, huh?" She winked at Aura, and the girl giggled softly.

"You'll get to meet Xander and Anya today," Faith went on. "Xander's cool, you'll like him. Anya's his girlfriend, and if she seems a little weird, it's 'cause she's an ex-vengeance demon." The rogue Slayer's tone was neutral; she figured that if the girl had fried a vampire the night before, an ex-demon wouldn't be too much of a surprise. Indeed, Aura's only reaction was to nod.

Finished with the batter stirring, Faith sprayed a pan with cooking oil before putting it on the stove and lighting the burner. "So, any particular shapes you want?" she asked. "Tell ya what – I'll surprise you." Using a ladle, she poured the batter in a symbol and waited patiently. Aura remained silent, simply watching the Slayer cook. After a minute or so, Faith took the pan off the stove and waggled her eyebrows.

"Watch this." With a flick of her wrist, she sent the pancake high into the air, effectively flipping it for the other side to cook. Aura giggled at the display and applauded. Faith gave an exaggerated bow. Once the other side had cooked, Faith flipped it onto a plate (eliciting more giggles from the young girl) and placed in front of Aura an A-shaped pancake.

"_La pièce de résistance_," Faith joked. "Syrup?" Aura nodded enthusiastically.

The young girl was halfway through her pancake when the doorbell rang. Faith, who was in the middle of cooking a stack of pancakes for herself, yelled, "It's open!" A moment later, Xander and Anya walked into the kitchen. Anya, however, screeched to a halt when she spotted Aura.

"Is this the child?" she asked Faith quietly.

"Ahn honey, I think she has a name." Xander said, turning to grin at the small girl. Aura took no notice, however – she was having a staring contest with Anya.

"What _are _you?" the ex-demon asked. Aura gave her the same answer she had given Spike – she shrugged.

"Hi there," Xander said, trying again. Aura turned to him curiously. "I am Xander, a humble carpenter and proud Scooby, and this is Anya, my girlfriend, proud owner of a pile of rubble that was once an esteemed magic shop."

Aura giggled, and Faith rolled her eyes. Anya, having determined that Aura wouldn't kill her, had taken a seat at the counter across from the strange girl. Aura cut a piece of her "A" and speared it with her fork. "Pancake," she said in her soft voice. Faith was so shocked that she almost dropped the pan containing her fourth pancake. Aura noticed and pointed to the rogue, making the wrist motion she'd seen her do. Recovering quickly, Faith grinned and effortlessly flipped the pancake high into the air. Aura laughed again and shoveled more food into her mouth.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Xander asked, completely stunned.

Faith rolled her eyes. "I'm not a _complete _badass – oops, sorry Aura." Thankfully the girl was too engrossed in her breakfast to notice.

"Ooh, can you make me some penis-shaped ones?" Anya asked eagerly. Faith froze, shutting her eyes in an attempt to remain calm. Xander flushed a deep red and glanced at Aura. The girl had her fork halfway to her mouth and her eyebrows were raised to her hairline.

"Ahn, young ears in the room," Xander cautioned.

"Fine," the ex-demon said dejectedly, putting her elbows on the counter and resting her chin on her hands. "It's not like it's anything scandalous, it's just a pleasurable part of the male anatomy."

Aura turned redder than her hair and broke into furious giggles. Faith sighed. "All right, I'll yield to your weird fetish just this once."

The ex-demon grinned. "Thank you!" she said perkily.

From the other room, there was the sound of something sliding down the banister and landing with a loud thump. A second later, a not-quite-awake Dawn burst into the kitchen. "Pancakes?" she demanded, the delectable aroma coming from the stove obviously having woken her. Faith looked mournfully at the pancakes she'd made for herself before handing them to Dawn with much chagrin. The teenager attacked them as if she hadn't eaten in months.

"Dawn, chew!" Xander insisted. The Summers' girl just made unintelligible noises and kept eating.

"I'm gonna need more batter," Faith said.

……………………

Everyone was still eating when Buffy and Giles returned with three teenage girls in tow. "We come bearing hungry teenagers," Buffy announced. "What's for breakfast?"

"I knew it was good idea to make more batter."

"Pancakes?" one of the potentials asked eagerly. She was only slightly taller than Buffy and had blonde hair cropped just below her ears.

"Courtesy of a cooking Slayer," Xander said, hopping out of his chair to greet the potentials with the same flair he used with Aura. "Greetings, ladies," he said. "Welcome to the esteemed household of Buffy and Dawn Summers. I am Xander, the noble sidekick. Allow me to escort you into the kitchen so you may meet the others."

"Layin' it on a little thick, aren't you?" Buffy quipped as the potentials giggled. Nonetheless, they all followed him.

"Here we have the rest of the Scoobies," Xander said as if he were a tour guide leading them through an 1800s mansion. "At the stove is Faith, Buffy's other Slayer half." Faith rolled her eyes, but saluted nonetheless. "Eating interestingly-shaped pancakes at the counter is my beautiful girlfriend Anya, the ex-demon," Xander continued. The potentials all raised their eyebrows.

"Hello, future Slayers," Anya said briefly before going back to her food.

"Scarfing down breakfast like she hasn't eaten in years is Dawn Summers," the carpenter said with a grin. Dawn was about to flip him off, but she caught the look in Buffy's eye and saluted them with her fork instead.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" the third potential asked. She was tall and tan with long, dark brown hair.

"Long story," was the reply.

"And our newest member," Buffy continued, "who is diligently putting her plate in the dishwasher, is Aura." The small redhead smiled and waved at the three girls.

"She's so cute!" one of the potentials said. She was tall and dark-skinned, and her black hair hung around her face in tiny braids.

"Don't be fooled," Anya warned, suddenly very serious. "She can kill vampires by looking at them." At this announcement, all the potentials took a step backwards. Buffy and Giles both glared at the ex-demon.

"Anya!" Dawn scolded, having finally swallowed her pancakes. She turned quickly to Aura. "Don't listen to her, she's just being mean." Totally unfazed, the child shrugged and walked into the living room.

"She doesn't talk much," Dawn said unnecessarily.

"Now that _those _scary intros are done with, allow me to present the Slayer recruits," Buffy said. "This is Claire, from Columbus, Ohio," the tall brown girl nodded to everyone, "this is Vi, from Boulder, Colorado," the girl with short blonde hair waved shyly, "and this is Kennedy, from Chicago Illinois." The third girl waved at all of them with a brief "yo." "Right. Breakfast?" Buffy asked Faith, waggling her eyebrows.

"You're hopeless, B," the rogue said.

……………………

Once breakfast was over, Buffy led the potentials on a tour of the house while the others sat in the living room and dining room doing research on the First Evil. Aura, dressed in yet another one of Dawn's outfits, wandered around them, every so often glancing at what someone was reading before moving on.

When Buffy brought the potentials back to the living room, Kennedy's eye caught a picture sitting on the mantelpiece. "Who's _that_?" she asked, a curious and somewhat eager note to her voice. Buffy turned and sighed. It was a picture of her, Xander, Willow, all smiling broadly. Kennedy was obviously referring to the Slayer's cherished best friend.

"That's Willow," Buffy said softly, trying to hold back a stray tear. All of the Scoobies had looked up from their research and were warily observing the two.

"So, when do we get to meet her?" the potential asked.

A surge of pure fury welled up within Buffy, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the others – spare the two potentials and Aura – felt the same way. All of them had caught the sensual tone to Kennedy's voice and knew exactly what the potential had on her mind.

When Buffy spoke, it was through gritted teeth. "One, she's taken, and two, she's dead."

Kennedy blanched, realizing her mistake. "Oh…I…um…"

"There should be a picture of her and Tara there," Dawn said, frowning. "Where'd it go?"

Buffy turned to scan the room, her eyes finally coming to rest on Aura. The small redhead was sitting cross-legged on the living room carpet, cradling a picture frame to her chest. The blonde Slayer knew instantly that the girl was holding the missing picture. Filled with both confusion and unexpected sympathy, Buffy went to Aura and knelt before her. The girl didn't look up – just continued to cradle the picture as if it were the most precious thing on the planet. The Slayer reached over and gently pried it from her hands. Aura put up a bit of a fight, but finally relented and stared sadly at the floor as Buffy put the picture back on the mantel. She gazed at it for a moment, lost in sadness. Willow and Tara smiled back at her, their arms around each other's shoulders, obviously deeply in love. Buffy turned back to Aura, who was looking at her with a little bit of resentment.

"I'll find you a small one, ok?" the Slayer promised softly. "One you can carry around with you." Aura brightened visibly and nodded.

As she watched the scene between the two, something in Faith's mind clicked. She leapt from her chair and rushed over to Aura, dropping to her knees to stare at the girl. Aura stared back with her smoky blue eyes, her face framed by her flaming red hair.

"Dawn, contact Willow and Tara _now_," she ordered. "And take me with you."

……………………

"Hi Dawn, Faith," Willow said when she and Tara met the two in the halfway realm. Willow felt very differently towards Faith ever since the rogue had watched the trials. Though it was a little late, seeing as she was dead, she now considered the Slayer a friend.

"Hey," Tara said too, then frowned when she saw the looks on the girls' faces. "What's wrong?"

"It's about Aura," Faith said desperately. "She's – here!"

Dawn and Faith's mouths dropped open in shock as Aura shimmered into appearance next to them, also tied by a golden rope. Turning to Willow and Tara for an explanation, the girls were shocked to see the two witches staring at Aura with undisguised love in their eyes.

"Hey baby girl," Tara whispered, her voice choked with tears.

Aura smiled at her and Willow and spoke two words that changed everything. "Mama. Mommy."


	4. Chapter Three: Aura

CHAPTER THREE: Aura

AN: Now that y'all know who Aura is, I can post the link to the book cover on my profile. I chose Bonnie Wright for Aura, since she's the most similar in appearance (and a pretty good actress too). I'm rather proud of how it came out, so I urge you all to go take a look at it.

So far I've only gotten a few reviews (but good ones – kudos to the reviewers!!), and it's kinda disheartening. Please, take ten seconds to tell me what you think? I'd really, _really _appreciate it.

Ok, on with the show!

……………………

For nearly a full minute, Dawn and Faith stared at Aura in absolute silence, both of them still agape. Finally, Dawn turned to Willow and Tara with wide eyes. "What…_how_??"

"It's simple," Aura said, startling the young Summers girl and the rogue Slayer. "When Mama and Mommy came back together, the force of their souls combining spread to all the nearby realms. The Realm of Creation happened to be one of them, and so fragments of their combined souls formed there to make me."

"We dreamed of you for so long, Aura," Willow said, tears flowing freely down her face. "We just didn't know how to bring you to us. And now you're here, and we can't be there for you." Her shoulders began to shake with suppressed sobs. Tara put her arms around her in comfort, but she too was struggling to maintain control.

"It's all right, Mommy," Aura said. "I'm safe." Willow hunched over and burst into sobs, Tara not far behind as she cradled her lover.

"Wait a minute," Faith asked, having recovered from her composure somewhat. "Their conjoining just _happened _to reach the Creation Realm? You just _happened _to form out of their merged souls and just _happened _to land in Sunnydale? Something's not right here!"

The small redhead shrugged, which seemed to be her favorite thing to do. "There's more, of course. I didn't have to come into being now; I could have waited in the Creation Realm. But the threat of the First Evil called me into existence."

"Why would it do that?" Dawn asked.

"Because I'm a threat to it. The playing field must be equal."

"I thought the Slayers were threats," Faith said.

"Not the only ones."

"Faith? Dawn?" Tara had managed to stop crying enough to speak. "Could you…maybe…leave us alone with out daughter for a bit?"

"Of course," Dawn said. As she broke the connection, the last thing she saw was Willow and Tara smiling at their daughter, who was smiling broadly back.

……………………

When Dawn and Faith came back to their senses, nearly collapsing where they sat, Aura was sitting next to them, eyes closed as she sat perfectly still. The Slayer and the young Summers girl looked at her as if they'd never seen her before.

"What's with you two?" Kennedy asked. Faith looked away from Aura and looked around the room until she met Buffy's eyes. Her fellow Slayer was both worried and confused, and for some reason her gaze made Faith flush a little.

"Guys," the rogue began. "We have something to tell you."

……………………

When Dawn and Faith finished their story, Aura was still in her trance. But now _everyone _was looking at her with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Of course…" Anya said. "There was no way the force of Willow and Tara merging souls _wouldn't_ produce so much power."

"Guess you've just been replaced as 'divine daughter,'" Faith quipped, glancing at Dawn. The teen just rolled her eyes.

"But what about being a threat to the First Evil?" Vi asked. "How _could_ she be a threat to it? She's just a kid!"

"Yeah, a kid who can cause vamps to burst into sunlight just by looking at them," the ex-demon replied.

"Giles, what do you know?" Buffy asked.

"I vaguely recall some mention of another threat to the First Evil," the Watcher replied, frowning. "But all the texts I have focus mainly on the power of the Slayers. Perhaps some further research might reveal more details."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Dawn grumbled.

"Hold up," Claire said. "I'm still wondering as to how it is you can talk to dead people."

"Not dead people in general, just Willow and Tara."

"Even still."

Dawn sighed. "I might as well tell you the story," she said.

"I'll help," Said Faith. "I gotta take my mind off this."

"And talking about Willow and Tara is going to take your mind of their daughter?" Anya asked.

"Shut it," the rogue replied.

"Actually, Faith, I was hoping you could take Aura shopping for some new clothes." Faith summoned the most incredulous look she could muster and directed it at her fellow Slayer. "I can't very well send Xander or Anya," Buffy continued.

"Hey!" Anya protested, glaring at the blonde.

"No, I'll go," Faith said. "Maybe some fresh air'll do me good instead, 'cause my head is spinning just a little too fast."

"Thanks, Faith," Buffy said sincerely.

"No prob, B," the rogue Slayer winked. Buffy blushed a furious red and had to clear her throat before speaking again.

"Xander, go with Faith and Aura – they'll need your sense of humor." Faith rolled her eyes but didn't object. "Giles, you and Anya look for information on what other threats could harm the First Evil. I…I'll help Dawn tell the story, I guess," Buffy finished.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Anya said, glowering.

"Do you really think it's a story I want to tell?" the Slayer replied, weariness and sadness in her voice. The ex-demon shut up.

"Ok, will you tell us now?" Kennedy prodded. The Summers girls sighed as they sat on the living room floor, followed by the potentials. Knowing how much pain Buffy was about to endure, Faith rested her hand on her fellow Slayer's shoulder before going to see if Aura was out of her trance yet.

……………………

"Thanks again for taking me shopping, Aunt Faith," Aura said. "You too, Uncle Xander."

It was as if her time with Willow and Tara had made the small redhead a totally different person. She had gone into her trance as a strange, quiet child, and had come out of it as an average eleven or twelve-year-old – one so remarkably like her parents that it was uncanny. She had Willow's hair, laugh, and facial expressions, but her voice, eyes, and calm demeanor were pure Tara. She also had a combination of their taste in clothes, and Faith and Xander got to see what happened when Tara-pants were combined with a Willow-shirt. They finally determined that it was something only Aura could pull off.

"No problem, kiddo," Xander said. The mass shopping run not only included clothing but various other odds and ends (all paid for from Willow and Tara's back account, upon their insistence) to keep Aura occupied. The final stop had been the ice cream parlor, where Faith, Xander, and Aura were currently enjoying various-sized sundaes.

"Besides," Faith continued. "What would your parents think if we didn't treat you right?"

"That still doesn't mean you have to spoil me," Aura pointed out. Xander laughed.

"We're not – they are. Sort of."

"Willow's gonna kill us for not getting her the best laptop money can buy," Faith quipped.

"She can have hers!" Xander said. "Am I not right, Aura?"

"Whatever you say, Uncle Xander," the girl replied, obviously trying not to burst into laughter. Faith did instead.

……………………

When the trio got home, the mood in the household was somber. The Summers girls had finished their story, and Dawn instantly volunteered to help unload the car, desperately needing to take her mind off everything. Her one comfort was that Buffy had neglected to go into detail about the Hellbridge trials – both the Slayer and Anya had turned pale and looked nauseous during that part of the story.

When Aura came through the door carrying a huge bag of stuff, Vi and Claire looked at her with a sort of respect, now that they knew the story behind her parents. Kennedy did her best to ignore her.

"Hey, Aura," Buffy said. "Have a good time?"

The girl nodded and smiled. "Uncle Xander got me a discman."

"How nice of him!" the Slayer said. When Aura's attention was elsewhere, she turned and mouthed "Uncle Xander?" to her friend, trying not to laugh. He just shrugged, embarrassed.

"I think it's sweet," Anya said, getting up from her spot on the couch and kissing his cheek. Xander grinned, suddenly not so embarrassed anymore.

Faith, Dawn, and Anya managed to whip up a dinner that wasn't take-out, so the Scooby gang and extras had one of the best meals they'd had in a long while. The three chefs were overwhelmed with compliments, and they couldn't help but grin through the rest of the evening.

Later that night, while the others were playing board games and sharing more cheerful stories, Faith knocked on Dawn's door to find Aura sitting and listening to her discman. When she saw the rogue, she smiled and paused the CD, taking her headphones off as the Slayer knelt on the floor in front of her.

"Hey, small fry, I got somethin' for you," Faith said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a small, gold, oval-shaped locket on a matching chain and placed it in Aura's hand. An ornate "A" was inscribed on the front. "I saw it while we were out and figured you'd like it," Faith continued as she rubbed the back of her neck, slightly embarrassed. "And I knew you wanted a smaller picture of Willow and Tara to carry, so…" she ended with a shrug.

Aura curiously opened the locket and her eyes brightened. On one side was a picture of Willow and on the other a picture of Tara. After gazing lovingly at her parents for a moment, Aura gently closed the locket before clasping it around her neck with surprising dexterity, letting it hang so the "A" was in front.

"Thank you, Aunt Faith!" she said when she was done, throwing her arms around the Slayer and holding her tight.

"No problem," the rogue replied, awkwardly hugging her back. She looked up to see Buffy watching the scene from the doorway, the tenderness in her eyes mixed with amusement. She gestured her head toward her own room before walking away.

Faith entered a minute later to find Buffy sitting on the bed. "Who'd've thought that you of all people would have a soft side?" the blonde quipped. Faith blushed and sat down next to her.

"I just thought it would be a nice thing to do," the brunette covered. "I mean, she did want a picture of her parents to carry around with her, and I thought a locket would be a nice thing to keep it in."

"And you're still trying to buy Willow's affection and keep on her good side?"

"Ok, so maybe there's that," Faith admitted. The two Slayers chuckled. "Really though, she's a good kid," the rogue continued, her eyes getting a distant look. "Kind of…content, y'know? Like all's right, even when it isn't – even when we live on the Hellmouth."

"The kind of kid you wish you could have been?" the blonde Slayer asked, a little more softly this time.

"Yeah, maybe," Faith murmured, lowering her head.

There was a pause. "I know what you mean," Buffy said. "There are days I wish the same thing. Wish that I was never called, and never had to deal with a Hellmouth and everything that comes with it. But then I wouldn't have met Will, or Xander, or Giles, or anybody. You're like my family – you _are _my family. I…I wouldn't have met you," she added.

"You met me 'cause you died, then Kendra died," Faith pointed out, a bit of self-loathing in her voice. "If meeting me meant mad shit like that had to go down, then it would be better if you _hadn't _met me." She was about to get up to leave when Buffy caught her arm.

"I'm glad I met you," Buffy whispered. "You've made all the difference in the world."

After staring at each other for a moment, Faith cupped Buffy's cheek in her hand and kissed her, pulling her close. The blonde didn't pull away, instead wrapping her arms around Faith as their mouths moved against each other's.

It was Aura's turn to watch smiling from the doorway before turning and quietly heading back to the room she shared with Dawn.


	5. Chapter Four: What's Really Going On?

CHAPTER FOUR: What's Really Going On?

AN: Since the last story was almost overly dark, I'm going to take the opportunity to have a little fun with this one, especially since I get to torture Kennedy. Don't worry though, you'll get your Buffy/Faith lovin' soon enough. I might even throw in a little Willow/Tara in for good measure.

……………………

"Are you ok, Dawn? You look tired."

"Hi Tara, hi Willow," the teen said, "And I'm fine, Tara, just a little wiped out. Aura and I did some spell work."

"I'm not sure I want our daughter doing spells," Willow said, biting her lip as she looked to Tara for an answer.

"She'll be fine," the blonde witch said, kissing her lover's forehead. "Besides, she's already filled with power, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Willow mumbled, blushing a little as she turned back to Dawn. "So what sort of spell were you doing?"

"Well, maybe I should start from the beginning," the teen said, crossing her legs in a sitting position even as she floated in the halfway realm. "You know that the three potentials came to our house this morning, right?" When the witches nodded, Dawn continued, "Well, one of them noticed a picture on the mantelpiece of Buffy, Xander, and Willow, and her eyes caught on Willow. She asked Buffy when they'd get to meet you," she nodded to the redhead, "and there was lust practically dripping from her voice."

Tara reacted in a way Dawn had never seen before. The blonde's normally peaceful eyes narrowed and she gripped Willow tightly with one arm, literally growling. Willow looked a little shocked at first, but then grinned at Tara's possessiveness. "What did Buffy say?" the redhead asked.

"She told Kennedy – that's the potential's name – flat out that you were taken and dead – in that order."

Tara gave a satisfied smirk. "Same old Buffy. But isn't there a picture of Willow and me on the mantel?"

"Yeah, but Aura was sitting on the floor hugging it like a doll. That's when Faith figured out who she was and we contacted you. She and Xander actually took her out shopping this afternoon."

"We watched," Tara said, a twinkle in her eye.

"Tell Xander that it's fine for her to have my computer," Willow said, "and most of my stuff. Tara's too." The blonde nodded in agreement.

"So you saw the locket Faith got for her?"

"Yeah, we were kind of confused about that," Tara said.

"She got it so that Aura would always have pictures of you," Dawn said, grinning. "Buffy had promised her that she would find a smaller picture for her to carry around, since she liked the one on the mantel so much, and Faith came up with the solution."

"Oh," Willow whispered, putting one arm around Tara's waist and her hand on her heart as her eyes filled with tears. Tara squeezed her gently, kissing the top of her head.

"Tell her thank you," the blonde witch said sincerely.

"I dunno, I think she's just trying to stay on Willow's good side," Dawn said, her grin becoming a wry one.

Willow giggled. "She doesn't have to, but you don't have to tell her that." The three young women snickered. "So, what does all of this have to do with the spell you and Aura did?"

"Well, Kennedy took it upon herself to set up in your room…"

……………………

The brunette potential sank back on the double bed, putting her hands behind her head as she looked up at the ceiling. "Nice digs," she said aloud. After a moment of relaxation, Kennedy swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up to examine the small mirror on the wall. Simply intending to check her hair, she gasped when she saw the blonde gazing back from the glass.

She whirled around to see who else was in the room – no one. Kennedy turned back to the mirror to see that the blonde was still there, examining her curiously. The potential jumped as the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the room and something warm splashed against her. _"Your shirt…" _the blonde said before the mirror shattered. Kennedy looked down to find her shirt drenched in blood.

Shadows crept across the walls as a chill wind swept throughout the room. Terrified, the brunette looked around frantically, even as she was frozen to the spot. _"Tara!" _came the anguished cry from all around her, and the voice was laced with such pain that the potential felt that she had been punched in the chest. The shadows had coated the entire room, and deep red tendrils of what looked to be blood were creeping their way up the walls. Kennedy shook in horror, tears streaking down her face as the wind continued to whip at her.

"_I love you, Tara." _The whisper came from all around her. _"I will always find you." _The potential stumbled back as a dark bloodstain grew on the bed until it was so large that it dripped to the floor from the edges of the sheets. _"WILLOOOOWWW!! NOOOOOO!!"_ The shriek filled the entire room as the blood on the floor expanded outward.

Kennedy screamed in sheer terror as she bolted from the room, the wails of agony from the two witches echoing behind her.

……………………

Willow had doubled over in gales of laughter. Tara had tried to look stern and disapproving, but she had succeeded for about a split second before she too burst into a fit of furious giggles. Dawn was grinning from ear to ear.

"But how did you know what we said?" Tara asked as best she could while Willow still laughed uproariously.

"Aura helped me with that," Dawn said. "She is part of you, after all."

"That has to be…the best glamour…_ever _cast!" Willow said as she tried to catch her breath.

"I dunno," Dawn said, arching an eyebrow. "The fact that you two can laugh about your own deaths is kinda disconcerting."

"In this case we'll make an exception," Willow managed to say. Tara was giggling so hard that her face had turned completely red. "It's _brilliant_!"

Dawn joined in on their laughter for a few minutes, not noticing Aura's presence until the girl cleared her throat. When Willow and Tara saw their daughter, their grins widened.

"Oh honey," Tara said, wiping her eyes. "You and Dawn did wonderfully!" Aura beamed at her parents.

"We're so sorry you saw our deaths though," Willow said as her laughter died. Tara nodded too, her giggles having faded as well. "We wish we were there for you, baby girl."

"I know," Aura said softly. "I miss you too. I love you," she finished with a whisper.

"We love you too, sweetheart," Tara replied, smiling at her. Aura returned the smile before turning to Dawn, arching an eyebrow.

"Aunt Buffy is calling your name really loudly," Aura said. "I think she wants to talk to you."

Dawn flinched, but she still smiled. "It was _so _worth it."

"Tell her we approve of every minute of it," Willow said. Tara giggled again.

Dawn and Aura both grinned. "Bye," they said simultaneously.

"Bye sweeties," Tara said. "Plural sweeties," Willow added.

All four of them grinned before the connection was broken.

……………………

"So their room was 'haunted,' was it?" Buffy said, glaring at her sister. Dawn nodded guiltily, though she was trying her best not to grin. Kennedy was sitting on the couch with Vi and Claire on either side of her. She was pale and shivering, and she flinched at every loud noise. Anya had been moving her chair randomly to watch the potential react before Giles made her stop.

"Even though we all know _perfectly_ well that Willow and Tara are _perfectly_ happy in heaven?" Buffy demanded.

"Yes," Dawn mumbled.

"And that when Anya inspected the room she found that there had been a glamour cast on it?"

"Yes."

Buffy grabbed Dawn's wrist in a vice-like grip. "We are going to have a _long _talk," she said through gritted teeth as she dragged her up the stairs.

Once they had reached the hallway outside Buffy's room, the Slayer turned to face her sister, arching her eyebrows. Dawn cringed, waiting for the inevitable shouting-at she was going to get. The blonde maintained her composure for a few seconds before bursting into a broad grin.

"That was _brilliant_!" she said, practically jumping up and down. "Absolutely _brilliant_! God, I've been waiting all day for the excuse to tell her off for something, but that was _perfect_!" She grabbed her sister and did a do-si-do in the middle of the hallway. Dawn had been surprised for a moment, but then she too grinned broadly as she danced with her sister.

"You should have seen Willow and Tara when I told them," the young Summers girl said before relating her conversation with them to Buffy. The Slayer fairly howled with laughter as she and her sister celebrated their victory.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Giles was playing sympathetic parent. "Claire, you and Vi ought to take Kennedy out to the backyard, let her have some fresh air. She could really use it right about now." The girls nodded and led their fellow potential outside. Before Faith closed the door, they all heard the distinct sound of someone throwing up. Once they were sure that the girls were out of earshot, Anya, Xander, Aura, Giles, and Faith all looked at each other and burst out laughing. Buffy and Dawn practically bounced down the stairs to join them. Faith was rolling around on the floor, and Dawn was giggling so hard that she was crying.

When the other girls came back in, everyone had put on their best sober expressions, Dawn's earlier tears making her look more convincing. "I'm r-really sorry, K-Kennedy," the teen replied, her voice trembling. What the potential didn't know was that the trembling was not holding back sobs but more gales of laughter.

"Don't worry, she's been punished rather thoroughly," Buffy said, as much malice in her voice as she could muster. Dawn's "punishment" was actually going to be a brand new cell phone with the works, seeing as they all needed them anyway.

Kennedy, obviously furious but too shaky to do anything about it, simply nodded at Dawn, her facial expression suggesting that she had serious revenge planned. The young Summers girl wasn't a bit worried.

……………………

However, everyone should have been worried. In an underground cave near the outskirts of Sunnydale, the First Evil paced back and forth, its number one accomplice watching without expression.

"How?" the First Evil demanded to no one in particular. "How did it come to be? It shouldn't exist – there's no logical way for it toexist. How did this come to pass?"

"Do you wish for me to eliminate it, Great One?" the accomplice asked.

"No, Caleb. Not even if you could. It's too well protected, and I'm the only one with power enough to fight it. We'll have to wait until are army is complete."

"What of the Slayers? How do we deal with them?"

The First Evil paused in its pacing and smiled. "The Slayers, yes…" It turned to Caleb. "Perhaps it's time we give them a taste of what they're up against. Go to the Hellmouth and summon the creatures. I think they could use some exercise."

Caleb smirked. "At once, Great One."


	6. Chapter Five: Strange Encounters

CHAPTER FIVE: Strange Encounters

AN: I screwed up the time zone thing in Chapter One – it would have been 6 am. Just FYI. There's no Buffy/Faith lovin' yet, but Faith does have…thoughts…. Enjoy!

……………………

"You sure we shouldn't've taken Aura with us?"

Buffy shot Faith an incredulous look as the two of the patrolled the cemetery. "It's close to midnight," the blonde said, "and Aura's technically still a kid. That means she's hopefully sound asleep by now – though knowing Dawn, we can't count on it."

"She's a kid with superpowers," Faith pointed out. "I think she could go without a few hours' sleep."

"Willow and Tara would highly disapprove of their daughter being put in such a dangerous situation," Buffy replied sagely. Her fellow Slayer rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, B."

"Does this mean you're finally listening to me?"

"Don't count on it."

A half-hour later, there was still not a single vampire in sight. "This place is dead," Faith commented.

"Oh that was _bad_," Buffy groaned, resting on top of a tombstone. Faith just grinned and shrugged. Buffy was about to grin back, but then, "DUCK!!"

Faith's Slayer reflexes had her to the ground the instant Buffy shouted her warning, the blonde Slayer dropping next to her as a huge form sailed over their heads. When the girls sprang back up a second later to see who their foe was, their eyes widened in surprise.

It was a vampire, but unlike any vampire the Slayers had ever seen before. Its face had the trademark ridges and yellow eyes, but its skin was a pale blue, as if it had never seen light at all, let alone fluorescent lights or fire. What little grayish hair it had was thinning, and the creature would have looked old and weak had it not been bulging with muscles.

"What the _fuck_?" Faith asked. Then the fight was on.

Normally a vampire would have been no match for two Slayers, but as Buffy and Faith had already figured out, this was no normal vampire. With a negligent backhand, the creature sent Faith sailing several yards away to land smack against a tree. The brunette gave a little "oof" of pain as she slid to the ground, trying to recover as fast as she could to help the blonde Slayer in the fight. Buffy, meanwhile, was struggling to hold her own against the vampire, who was swiftly gaining the upper hand.

Though Buffy had experience with an uncountable number of demons, nothing had prepared her for the strength and ferocity of this vampire. For every kick and punch she threw its way, it blocked and threw two more. She was actually starting to become thankful that she was small, 'cause only a well-timed duck here and there saved her from a broken neck.

The mutant vampire made another swipe at Buffy, raking his sharp nails through thin air as she backed away from his swing. She misjudged her step though, and ended up sprawling. Faith staggered to her feet (realizing then that her left ankle was sprained if not broken) just in time to see Buffy get kicked in the side so hard that she went flying. The rogue sped towards the vampire, but he had already reached the fallen Slayer. The blonde yelled in pain as the creature pulled her arm from its socket, his nails slicing through her shirt and across her stomach. Literally roaring in fury, Faith sprang onto the vampire's back and staked him from behind, driving the piece of wood into the creature as deeply as possible.

The vampire didn't turn to dust so much as it melted. It collapsed to the ground, writhing around Faith's stake still embedded in its back as it slowly dissolved. The rogue Slayer watched with total confusion as the creature finally became dust, leaving almost no trace of its existence. Once she was sure that the vampire was really and truly gone, Faith ran over to Buffy and knelt beside her fellow Slayer. The blonde was unconscious, her arm still hanging limply. Her face was bruised, and so was the rest of her, Faith was sure. There were also four deep gashes in her stomach, and they were bleeding heavily.

"Oh God, B…" the rogue choked out in horror. Faith took off her jacket and pressed it to the wounds, trying to decide the best course of action. She knew that if she took Buffy straight home that the Slayer might die, but she was loath to take her to the ER. Still, there was really no other choice.

"Come on, B," Faith said, gently picking Buffy up and carrying her as best she could while limping on her bad ankle. "You're gonna be ok. You're gonna be ok." Though her words were meant to reassure her friend, Faith said them in part to calm herself as well.

……………………

Faith called Giles from the ER, and upon hearing the news, he, the rest of the Scoobies, and the potentials all raced to the hospital. When they got there, Dawn instantly went to her sister's side, her face completely white with worry. Aura stood close by, her expression unreadable but her eyes filled with sadness. Xander paced back and forth to the point where he almost wore a patch into the tile floor and Giles polished his glasses as if he was trying to rub the lenses out of existence.

When Buffy woke up an hour later, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw Dawn's face right in front of hers. "Don't _do _that," she said weakly. Everyone was instantly at her side.

"How are you feeling?" Faith asked with concern none of the others had ever heard before.

"Like I had a round with the troll hammer," the blonde Slayer replied. She winced as she tried to sit up. "Make that several rounds."

"You know, if this is the sort of thing that happens to Slayers, I'm kind of hoping I'm never, _ever _called," Vi whispered to Claire in a rather shaky voice.

"So do we," Buffy and Faith said seriously. Vi blushed and mumbled an apology, realizing her faux pas. Both Slayers shrugged their forgiveness, though Buffy immediately cringed when she moved her injured shoulder.

"Oh my god, did you break your arm?" Dawn asked, freaking out when she finally noticed the sling Buffy was wearing. The elder Summers girl shook her head.

"Dislocated my shoulder."

"Oh, well that's not too bad," Kennedy said.

"Honestly, I'd rather have broken my arm," Buffy replied. When she was released an hour later and everyone went home, the potential was still trying to figure out the Slayer's injury preference. Faith cracked her knuckles and offered to show Kennedy the difference, but the girl politely (and very nervously) refused.

"Ok, B, it's nothin' but bed rest for you for a few days," Faith said as she literally tucked Buffy in.

"Faith," the elder Slayer whined. "It's not _that _bad."

"Says the woman with how many stitches in her stomach now?"

"Oh, shut up." Faith grinned wryly, but made no further comment.

Still, as the rogue Slayer relaxed in the bathtub later that night to ease her own aches and bruises, she couldn't help but worry about Buffy. Worry was still a new emotion for her (she'd never really even worried about herself), and it left her completely confused. She hadn't even spared a thought for the strange vampire (though she and Buffy had related the story to the others) – all she cared about was whether or not Buffy was ok.

Buffy, who had a smooth, well-tone stomach, even when it was slashed up. Buffy, who had the sexiest quirk of a smile that made Faith blush, which was something she'd never done before. Buffy, who had the most beautiful blonde hair and the cutest little body…

Faith gritted her teeth and tried to expel these thoughts from her head. True, she and Buffy had once said "I love you" to each other, but that wasn't "love" love so much as it was a Slayer bond. Yeah, they'd kissed a bit, but that was still a sort of Slayer attraction. But this was different – this was even deeper than the Slayer bond they shared, and Faith found it both erotic and terrifying.

The rogue Slayer felt her arousal building as she thought of Buffy, and, though she was alone, began to blush. As she sank lower into the tub, enjoying the hot water, Faith began to ponder. _What would it hurt? _she asked herself. _What would it hurt if I fantasized…just this once?_ Knowing she couldn't rest until she'd found some sort of release, Faith moved her hands into the water and began to love herself.

She closed her eyes as her hand met her breasts, imagining what it would be like to have Buffy's hands squeeze the generous flesh. The hot water made her wonder what Buffy's mouth would feel like over her nipples, and the thought made her pinch the nipples in question, stifling a groan as she did so. Once she was satisfied with the attention she'd shown her breasts, Faith allowed her hands to roam down her stomach until they met the wiry curls between her legs. The rogue gently parted her folds and flicked her thumb across her clit, hissing in pleasure as she did so.

Faith knew that she couldn't tease herself any longer – not with Buffy on her mind. Pressing both hands firmly over her mound, she began to rub hard and fast, her fingers slipping downwards to make direct contact with her clit. Her movements became faster as she approached her peak, and as her arousal came to a culmination, Faith couldn't help but shut her eyes tightly and imagine Buffy bringing her to such pleasure, Buffy's hands between her legs. It was that thought that sent her over the edge, and she had to clench her teeth together to keep herself from crying out.

The water had cooled by the time Faith came down from her high, but the temperature soothed her now flushed and heated skin. She lay back in the tub with a sigh. She wasn't quite satisfied, but she knew that if she continued she wouldn't be able to mask her sounds of pleasure. Letting out a shaky breath as she recovered from the aftershocks, Faith grabbed the bar of soap from its niche in the wall and began to scrub off the evidence of her fantasy.

……………………

"We really, really, really, really, _really _shouldn't have watched that," Tara said. She and Willow sat cross-legged on the clouds as they looked through a window to the world, and the blonde witch had her arm around her lover's waist and her face half-buried in her shoulder as she watched the scene through the corner of her eye. Willow, however, did not turn her attention from the window as she returned Tara's embrace and rested her head on top of the blonde's.

"I dunno," she said, a mischievous quirk in her voice. "I thought it was rather fascinating. Who knew the rough-'n-tough Slayer had a soft side?"

"Honey, you don't need a soft side to get yourself off," Tara said, looking at the redhead curiously.

"I know," Willow replied, meeting her gaze. "But have you noticed the way she's been looking at Buffy lately?"

Tara frowned, then her eyes widened. "Oh…" she said as the realization hit her. The two witches looked at each other for a moment before bursting into giggles.

……………………

It was three a.m., and even though everyone else was asleep, Aura and Giles were wide-awake, Giles looking over ancient texts while Aura had a late-night/early morning snack. Giles had been struggling over the same passage for the past hour, and he was no closer to understanding its meaning. The passage was written in some form of runic script, and though he could translate the rest of the page, that one passage held runes he didn't recognize. The Watcher had looked through all his runic dictionaries, but none of the symbols were there. It was only when he sat back in his chair and sighed that he saw that Aura had come up to him.

"What are you looking at?" the girl asked with innocent curiosity.

Figuring there was no harm in telling her, Giles replied, "I'm working on translating these runes, but this passage here," he pointed to the spot on the page, "contains symbols I've never come across before. I've looked in every runic dictionary I can find, and it's not there."

Aura peered at the page. "Oh," she said simply, then turned to Giles. "It's different because it's in Latin." When she saw the Watcher's look of complete shock, she elaborated. "The rest of the runes translate into Old English. These runes here translate into Latin, so the scribes used different symbols as opposed to using the phonetics of the ones they normally used. If you look in some of the older runic dictionaries you can probably find them."

Giles opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water before he regained the ability to speak. "You…you can read it?"

Aura nodded calmly, as if the ability to read ancient runic texts was a common skill for a girl of around twelve.

"And…what does it say?"

Aura's expression became one of sadness. "I…can't tell you. You have to figure it out." Then her mood shifted back to normal and she smiled at the Watcher before heading for the stairs. "G'night Grandpa Giles," she called over her shoulder.

"Goodnight, Aura," he murmured after her, still shocked and now utterly confused. After staring at the runes for another minute, he got up and headed for the phone, hoping the Council could shed more light on the situation.


	7. Chapter Six: Guess and Check

CHAPTER SIX: Guess and Check

AN: Don't worry, you will find out what the runic passage means. I just didn't want to reveal it too soon and give away everything. So just forget about it for now and let it sit as yet another one of Aura's enigmatic quirks. So, who's up for torturing Kennedy?

……………………

Not everyone felt particularly well the next morning. Buffy had managed to limp downstairs and collapse on the couch, and Kennedy had bags under her eyes that reached down to her cheekbones. According to Claire she'd had vivid nightmares about the "haunted" room and insisted on moving her sleeping bag in the basement between Claire's and Vi's. Dawn, who hadn't gotten much sleep due to worrying about her sister, found this rather satisfying.

Giles looked like he was about to collapse. When he'd picked up the phone to call the Watcher's Council and ask about old runic dictionaries, they replied that they had been planning to contact him at a more reasonable hour, and that runic translations could be saved for later. Right now he had more potentials coming his way, arriving at LAX that afternoon.

"You think Angel would mind if we dumped them all at his place?" Faith asked dryly from the chair opposite the couch. Slayer healing had done its job, but she was still sore, and thus irritable. "I mean, he's a lot closer, and L.A.'s not a Hellmouth."

"Sorely tempting, but apparently he's got almost as many demon-y troubles there as we do here," Buffy replied. "Besides, I'd rather that we be the ones to keep an eye on the potentials." She shot a quick glance at Kennedy as she said this, and Faith picked up on her misgivings immediately, nodding in agreement. "Not only that, but we're going to have to train them at some point," Buffy grumbled.

"Can I buy a bullwhip?" Faith asked, cracking her knuckles. "_I'll _keep them in line if they fuck around."

"Also sorely tempting, but I think the neighbors would get suspicious if they heard gunshot-like sounds coming from here at frequent intervals. Plus we need the girls healthy in case we decide to give them some field training."

"Ooh, can I take her out one night?" Faith jerked her head in Kennedy's direction. The potential was thankfully ignoring them, instead concentrating on her cup of coffee. "I'd love to see her go up against one of those things we fought last night."

"Speaking of the things we fought last night, I want to know what the Hell they are," Buffy said grimly.

For some reason, the ordinarily common phrase planted an idea in Faith's head. "What the Hell…" she said aloud.

"And you're concentrating on those words why?" Buffy asked.

"That thing we fought – did you notice its skin? Did you notice how pale it was?"

"Faith, _all _vampires have pale skin – well, depending on ethnicity," Buffy corrected herself, "but even then. It has something to do with the, 'sun bad, dark good' thing,"

The rogue ignored her fellow Slayer's wit and pressed on. "But this thing was different – like it hadn't seen any light at _all_ – even fluorescent lights or torches or whatever. And did you see its hair? How it was all gray and thin?"

"The Master didn't have any hair at all, and he was awfully pale, though he didn't have the bluish tinge." Buffy was starting to doubt her reasoning, and she didn't like it. "Maybe it's just an old vampire that's gotten stronger – like Kaikistos."

"I'm tellin' you, B, this is different!" Faith insisted. "Let's review – pale, bluish skin; strength that goes beyond normal vampire strength; wearing rags – not that that could necessarily mean anything, but let's take it into account anyway – and damn hard to dust – though this thing actually _melted_ – even with two of us." The brunette nodded towards Buffy and her injuries, wincing at the sight of the still-hurt Slayer.

Buffy took a deep breath. "Ok, ok, fine. Let's go on your idea. We know that it was a vampire, 'cause of the eyes, face ridges, and human form, but otherwise it's pretty different. It never encountered too much light before, so it probably lived underground." She chewed her lip as she thought about the possibilities. "Mausoleums? No, those still get some light."

"What about the sewers?" Faith asked.

"It probably would have smelled like one if that was the case. It didn't really have a particular smell, now that I think about it – even for a dead thing."

"'Cause we both know what newly risen vamps smell like," Faith quipped.

Buffy rolled her eyes before sinking back in thought. "Are there any old bomb shelters here or something? Like from World War II or the Cold War?"

"Not that I know of," said Faith. "Those were usually for individual houses, I think, and we'd've known by now if a local house was 'haunted.'" The rogue paused for a moment before asking, "What about old factories? Don't they all have big cellars or something?"

"I don't think so. Plus, they still get too much light."

Then Faith had a thought that made her blood run cold. "B…do you think it could've come from the Hellmouth?"

Buffy's eyes widened as she realized the implications of that possibility. "It fits…" she whispered, filling with dread. "It's right beneath Sunnydale High – even the new one – and almost no light could get to it – especially if the vamps live farther under the entrance. But someone would've had to have opened it again. Who has the power to do that?"

"Gee, I dunno, maybe the First Evil?" Faith said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We've gotta tell Giles," Buffy began, panicking. "We have to call Xander and Anya, and maybe even get word to Spike…" she continued to ramble as she struggled to get up.

"Let's…wait until Giles finishes his coffee," Faith said, putting up her hand to stop her. Realizing the wisdom in that suggestion, Buffy nodded and rather gratefully sank back onto the couch.

……………………

Tara bit her lip as she watched Willow pace back and forth. Both girls were at an indecision, knowing that whatever choice they made could play an extreme role in the inevitable battles to come. Not only that, but they couldn't stop thinking about their daughter, and desperately wanted to help her. But at what cost – to them, and the rest of the Scoobies, and the potentials?

"We can't," Willow said eventually, still pacing. "But we have to. There's no other way."

"But if we step in we could be affecting the entire balance of things, and then we'll _all _fail," Tara pointed out, though her voice was filled with anguish.

"But maybe they'll fail if we _don't _step in," Willow countered, also distressed. "What if that's what we're meant to do? Oh, Tara!" The redhead stopped pacing and ran to her soulmate, collapsing in her arms as she burst into sobs. Tara held her close as she rocked her back and forth, tears streaming down her own face as well.

"Oh darling," Tara whispered. "If we do this, we're risking _everything_. We're risking ourselves, our existence here…" Willow shuddered in her lover's arms, remembering all too well what she'd gone through to be with her. Tara felt her pain and tightened her embrace. "And our friends? What could happen to them? What could happen to _all _of us?" The blonde was silent for a moment as the two of them continued to cry. When she spoke again, it was with sad understanding. "We do have to though, don't we?"

Willow nodded, sniffing. "For our friends. And for Aura. For our little girl."

"For Aura," Tara agreed.

The two girls shared a long, fierce kiss before preparing to contact Dawn.

……………………

Dawn was in the kitchen playing rummy with Vi and Claire when she suddenly wrinkled her nose and blinked rapidly. "What's up?" Claire asked.

"My eyes feel funny – like I got dust in them or something."

"Maybe it's the gold specks," Vi said. "They're kind of flickering now."

"Flickering?" Dawn asked, confused.

"Yeah, like fireflies," Claire elaborated.

As the strange tingling continued, Dawn suddenly realized what was going on. "Oh! Willow and Tara!" She put down her cards and looked at the two potentials. "You win, I lose, I'll be right back." With that, she bolted from her chair and sprinted for the stairs. Vi and Claire looked at each other, shrugged, then went back to the game."

Dawn shut the door behind her as she burst into her room. Aura was somewhere downstairs, so she had the place to herself. She immediately sat cross-legged on the bed and closed her eyes as she murmured, "_Dicere_."

When Dawn opened her eyes, she was in the halfway realm facing Willow and Tara. She smiled in greeting, then frowned in worry when she saw the tearstains on their cheeks. "What's wrong?"

"We…we've made a tough decision," Tara said, some reluctance in her voice.

"Um, what sort of decision?" the young Summers girl asked.

"We've decided…" Willow took a deep breath. "We've decided that we're going to help you fight the First."

Dawn was completely baffled. "Haven't you been helping us already?"

"This is different," Tara explained. "We…when you confront the First, we're going to allow you to channel our essences – use our power to help in the fight. It'll be like the spell Buffy did to defeat Adam, but much different, since we're in heaven, and all of you are down on Earth."

"Wait, so your essences would flow into all of us?" Dawn asked.

Willow shook her head. "Our essences would be surrounding you. You'd be able to channel our energy from the air and use it to fight the first. Eventually though, our strength would run out, and we'd be returned here. We can only give so much without risking our entire existence."

"But you can't!" Dawn exclaimed in horror. "That's dangerous! What if we use too much energy? Wouldn't you cease to exist? You can't do that! We can't take your essences from you! Why would you even consider such a thing?"

"For me," came a soft voice. The three girls turned to see Aura sitting calmly beside Dawn. "But they won't have to."

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Tara asked.

"Because you're already channeling through me," was the girl's reply. "I felt it last night. Grandpa Giles was telling me about the runes he was trying to translate, and when I looked at them, I could understand them."

"Tara, you and I can both read ancient runes," Willow said to her soulmate as she began to understand. She turned to her daughter. "Your power – whatever it is – is strong enough to channel that ability?"

Aura nodded. "Something kept me from telling him the translation though. I think the Powers That Be don't want me interfering too much." She said this as if she knew Powers That Be personally.

Both Willow and Tara stared at her in wonder. "Oh, baby girl," Tara whispered. "What have you been brought to life as?"

Aura answered the way she always did when asked this question – smiled and shrugged. "Don't worry about offering your essences in the fight against the First. When the time comes, you'll still be able to help. You can still be there." And with that she vanished.

There was dead silence in her wake.

……………………

Giles finally did collapse in a chair, so Xander and Anya agreed via phone to pick up the new potentials and deliver them to the Summers' house. They all walked through the door just as Vi and Aura were setting the table for dinner.

"Hey Buff, feelin' better?" Xander asked when he saw his friend still lying on the couch.

"I'm gettin' there," the blonde said. She then tilted her head so she could see the two new girls standing anxiously in the doorway. "Come on in, dinner's about to start." They obeyed, albeit shyly.

The first girl, Shanequa, was slightly taller and darker than Claire with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. The other, Rene, was about Vi's height with blonde hair so dark it was almost brown. Everybody was introduced (spare the out-cold Giles) and then Vi showed the new potentials where they would be sleeping.

Once the new potentials had put away their belongings, they sat around and chatted with the Scoobies while Faith and Anya made dinner, marveling at all the adventures and asking a million questions. At one point, Rene got up to look at the pictures on the mantel, and that's when all the Scoobies froze.

"Who are they?" the girl asked, looking at the picture of Willow and Tara.

"They're my parents," Aura said, moving to stand beside Rene.

The potential looked surprised for a moment, but then asked, "Are they at work right now?"

"They're dead," was the sad response.

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey," Rene said genuinely, kneeling to wrap her arms around the small redhead.

"It's ok," Aura replied, smiling as she returned the hug. "I know they're safe and happy."

Rene pulled back to stare at Aura for a minute, then look questioningly at the other Scoobies.

"Looooong story," said Buffy, relieved that there hadn't been a repeat of the incident the day before.

Kennedy folded her arms crossly and turned away from the others, muttering "freak" a little too loudly.

"You know, Tara doesn't like you very much," Dawn remarked, calmly examining her nails. The potential glared at her, but the fear in her eyes was noticeable.

"It's not like she can do anything about it…can she?"

"She can't…but Aura can."

Aura smiled sweetly and tried to look as angelic as possible as the brunette inched away from her. Then Faith and Anya announced dinner, and everyone (spare Giles, once again) eagerly headed for the dining room.

"I'm just waiting for you to turn your head all the way around," Kennedy hissed at Aura as she passed.

The redhead remained calm. "I probably could, you know."

The brunette was jumpy all through dinner and stayed very close to Vi and Claire for the rest of the night.

……………………

"Thanks for coming with, small fry," Faith said as she and Aura walked through the cemetery. "I know Buffy's not thrilled, and I don't know how happy the 'rents will be, but thanks for coming with."

"No problem," said Aura, twirling a stake in her hands with uncanny ease.

"How is it you know how to do that?" Faith asked as she watched the girl spin the wood around. "No, don't answer – I know you're just going to shrug."

Both girls laughed as they continued to scout for vampires.

It wasn't long before a cocky group of vampires in an empty alleyway decided that Aura was just too cute to pass up and Faith shouldn't be too big of a problem if she was looking out for the kid. They didn't last long enough to warn anybody else that now there were two Slayers _and _a powerful little girl roaming the streets.

While Faith took on the first two vamps with a series of punches, Aura easily rolled and ducked beneath a series of attacks aimed her way. Using a vampire's arm for leverage, she pulled herself into the air with her free hand and staked him before landing lightly back on the pavement.

It wasn't long before the girls figured out how to work in tandem. Faith would send a vampire to his knees, leaving him at just the right height for Aura to stake, and Aura would throw kicks into a vamp's chest, sending him backwards and straight onto the pointy end of the stake in Faith's hand. The two girls became a whirlwind of destruction, and soon there was only dust where there had once been seven or eight vamps.

When the fight was over, Faith and Aura grinned at each other, slightly out of breath. "Damn, kid, you're good," the rogue said.

"Thanks!" The redhead's grin suddenly faded. "Um, Faith?"

Faith turned to see that vamp like the one she and Buffy had fought the night before was coming their way. "Oh _shit_," the brunette said, not caring that Aura was with her. Saying a quick prayer, she lunged for the vampire.

Aura was there first, punching and kicking like a wildcat before the vamp tossed her aside. She yelped in astonishment and pain when the creature hit her and gave a little "oof!" as she landed on the ground. Roaring with fury, Faith began her own assault against the vamp. She was starting to gain the upper hand when she mistimed a block by a fraction of a second. She too found herself flat on the ground, looking up at the mutated vamp as he descended for the killing blow. The rogue raised her arms, ready to make one last attempt, when the alleyway was suddenly filled with light.

The vampire staggered backwards and shrieked in agony as Faith raised herself on her elbows to look for the source of the intense glow. She turned her head to see Aura standing calmly before the creature, arms outstretched as golden light blazed from her palms and fingertips. After one last cry of terror and pain, the vamp fell twitching to the ground, melting slowly into dust.

The light faded and disappeared as Aura lowered her arms, breathing heavily where she stood. Faith pushed herself to her feet and moved to stand beside her, putting a hand on the small girl's shoulder. Aura looked up at the rogue, her expression one of sadness and resignation, as if something she'd suspected had been confirmed. Faith thought she knew what it was, but asked nonetheless.

"What is it? Where's it from?"

"It's a stronger breed of vampire," Aura sighed. "And I think it's from the Hellmouth."


	8. Chapter Seven: Information

CHAPTER SEVEN: Information

AN: I'm really, really, REALLY sorry this has taken me so long. School, work, schoolwork, life in general, it's all been adding up. Therefore, if this chapter seems a little rushed/short, you know why. I'm just trying to keep everything updated.

It occurred to me that I never actually said (well, the characters never found out) that the First Evil was present in Sunnydale – the Scoobies just kind of/suddenly knew. Sorry about that little continuity error – hopefully one of Faith's lines in this chapter will semi-fix it. I also realize I'm kind of rushing this even though there's a whole season to get through, so I'll try and make up for that as well.

Well, on with the show. Oh, and if anyone wants to be a potential Slayer, just PM me the name you want and a description. I can't take everyone, obviously, but why not? Sorry gentlemen, you're out of luck on this one.

……………………

"You saw another one?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Not so loud!" Faith admonished. "You'll wake everybody up."

It was about one in the morning, and Faith and Aura were filling Buffy in on everything that had happened on patrol as they all sat on the living room couch. The blonde Slayer was still seething over the fact that Aura was put in so much danger, but the news of the mutant vampire made her forget everything else. "What happened?" she asked more quietly.

"Well, Aura went at it first," Faith began, and Buffy shot the small redhead a reproving glare. The girl just shrugged as Faith continued, "and it threw her aside, but only after she got in some good hits." Buffy cringed, not only for Aura's sake, but because she was afraid that if Willow and Tara had been watching, the blonde Slayer was in for it big time.

"I was pretty pissed off at that point," Faith went on, "so I hurled myself at it full on. I was almost winning, but I slipped up and he threw me to the ground." The rogue sounded disgusted with herself, but when Buffy put her hand on her knee in sympathy, she suddenly didn't care as much. "And he was about to swipe at me when Aura fried it."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, looking sideways at her best friend's daughter.

"She just held out her hands and sunlight came out of them in beams," Faith said, holding her hands out the same way to demonstrate. "And the thing…well, it sounded like it was in pain, but it sounded like it was actually scared too – of _Aura_."

Both Slayers stared at the little girl. She was a little exhausted from her adventure, and was beginning to look drowsy. "…And, that's when Aura said she thought the vamp was from the Hellmouth," Faith finished.

"But how can you know?" Buffy asked.

"Well, think about it," Aura replied sleepily. "Grayish skin, thinning hair, tattered clothing. Not only that but it was kind of hunched over, as if it'd been somewhere cramped for a long time, and its pupils were really dilated, so its probably used to having to take in as much light as it possibly can."

"I didn't even notice that," Faith admitted. Buffy nodded in agreement.

"That's probably why it was afraid of the light and not just hurt by it."

"Aura, it was afraid of _you_," Faith insisted.

"If you say so," was the small redhead's neutral response before she continued with her reasoning. "Since the First Evil's in town, it only makes sense that it's going to try and use the darkest forces available, and the Hellmouth is crawling with those."

"But that would mean the Hellmouth is open again…" Buffy said as she and Faith looked at each other in horror.

"Mm-hm," Aura said calmly as she began to fall asleep. Buffy allowed herself a wry smile.

"You've had a long night, kiddo," she said. "How 'bout you go up to bed?"

Aura nodded, yawned, and pushed herself up off the couch. "G'night, Aunt Buffy, g'night, Aunt Faith," the girl said as she padded out of the living room.

"G'night, small fry," Faith called after her. Once they were sure she was gone, the two Slayers looked at each other for a long time, each contemplating the gravity of the situation.

"We can't just keep waiting for the First to do something drastic," Buffy said. "It's already sent these uber-vampire thing at us, and that's probably the least of its arsenal. We have to move and fast."

"Jeez, B, we've only known about the First and it's cult for a few days!" Faith said. "For all we know it's not targeting us, but Sunnydale in general! We don't even know that it's _in _Sunnydale!"

"Where else could it be?" Buffy countered. "If anything it would probably want to keep an eye on its biggest threats – us – and the Hellmouth is the perfect…" Her eyes widened as she trailed off.

"Perfect what?" Faith prompted.

"Faith…as Slayers, we're the biggest threat to the First Evil, and it and its cult want to eliminate potential Slayers, who still don't and might never have any powers…and we're gathering them all in the same place."

Faith sagged against the back of the couch. "Ohhh, we _so _fucked this up and we are _so _fucked."

……………………

Willow and Tara weren't exactly happy either, but for different reasons. They'd watched their daughter patrol with Faith and had seen her destroy the mutant vampire with sunlight. They'd closed their "window" after that so they could lie in bed and discuss the progression of events.

"I can't be-_lieve_ Faith put her in so much danger!" Willow huffed.

"I don't really like it either, but she _did _save Faith's life," Tara pointed out as she gently rubbed her lover's arms.

"True," Willow sighed. After a moment, she grinned slightly. "Part of me is furious, but part of me is kinda proud of her," the redhead admitted. Tara chuckled.

"She's strong. Like you."

"Oh, Tara." Willow snuggled closer to her soulmate. "You're the strong one. I'm the one who got addicted to magic and messed everything up."

"Willow…you walked through Hell to get to me," Tara said softly, lifting her lover's chin with her fingertip so she could look her in the eye. "You are so strong, and so brave, and I love you so much."

"I had to get to you," Willow said, shivering a little as she remembered her ordeal. "Nothing could stop me from getting to you."

"Oh, Willow," Tara murmured, burying her face in her soulmate's vibrant red hair. "I love you, more than anything. Goddess, I can't even begin to find words to tell you how much."

"So show me," Willow said with a grin, kissing the blonde's neck. Tara pulled away to look directly into her soulmate's eyes.

"Gladly," she replied before pulling the redhead into a fiery kiss.

They made love slowly, passionately, taking time to explore each other before meeting in a shuddering climax. Tara sighed happily as she cradled Willow in her arms. No matter how many times she touched her, she always marveled at the redhead's beauty, her silken skin, the contours of her body, the way she shuddered and cried out in ecstasy as they clung to each other. Willow too could not help but enjoy every exquisite moment, and it filled her heart to know that she had forever to do so.

"I love you," she whispered to Tara, brushing away a strand of sunset-gold hair.

"I love you too," Tara murmured in return, lightly kissing Willow's cheek.

The two lay contentedly in each other's arms, fitting perfectly against each other as they simply enjoyed the feeling of being entwined together beneath the golden sky.

……………………

Faith was sitting idly at the kitchen counter nursing a cup of coffee when she felt the vampire's presence. "What do you want, Spike?" She growled at the back door.

"What, a bloke can't stop by every now and again to check up on everyone?" he drawled casually, propping his arm up against the doorframe.

"It's been over a week since you've come to 'check up on everyone,'" the rogue commented.

"Yeah, well, lucky for you, I've been making some inquiries, and I have information you just might want to know."

Seeing as he already had an invitation, Spike opened the back door and sauntered into the kitchen, taking the liberty of pouring himself a cup of coffee. Faith normally would have remarked on this, but she was too worn out to care and rather interested in what he had discovered. Sensing that she was waiting, the bleach-blonde vamp took a long drink of coffee before beginning.

"There are new vamps in town, and they're from the Hellmouth."

"We know." When the vampire raised an eyebrow, Faith filled him in on their encounters with the strange creatures, including the news of the arrival of the potentials and an explanation of Aura's powers and origin. Spike was only mildly surprised.

"Only makes sense that that much power would come out of those two witches," he said.

"Yeah, Anya said the same thing. Any other news?"

Slightly chagrined that he had once again been beaten to the punch, the vampire continued. "As powerful as it is, the First Evil couldn't have opened the Hellmouth unless it was nearby, so it's definitely in Sunnydale somewhere."

"We were afraid of that," Faith groaned.

"Why do I even bother?"

"No, please, continue."

Spike took another sip of coffee. "Well, your average demons and vamps might not be bothering you quite as much as they normally would, though I wouldn't count on the vamps. Eventually they're going to find out that fresh meat is in town. But then I suppose you'll have something to train the potentials with." He smirked at this, and wasn't entirely surprised when the rogue Slayer did as well. "The other demons are all on edge though, what with the First Evil being nearby. They're either ready to fight or ready to run, and they're not going to take any extra time and effort to mess with a couple Slayers."

"Fine with me – we don't want to take any extra time and effort dealing with them."

"I'll bet. How many girls you have bunking with you now?"

"Five," the rogue groaned again. "And we've got three more coming in tomorrow."

Spike smirked again, this time rather smugly. "Don't suppose they'll be starting school next week."

"No, but Dawn is starting high school, and that's bad enough – even if it _wasn't _on top of the Hellmouth." The Slayer froze, her eyes suddenly widening. "Oh shit…"

"_Please_, the First Evil's not gonna send vamps out in broad daylight. It's going to maintain a low profile until it's time to strike, you watch."

"The image of a rattlesnake comes to mind. A really evil rattlesnake."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Speaking of daylight, I'd best be off before I sizzle. Wouldn't want Buffy to get all upset that she didn't stake me herself."

"_Go,"_ Faith growled, irked all over again. The vampire chuckled, left his half-empty cup on the counter, and slipped off into what was left of the night, leaving the rogue Slayer to her tumultuous thoughts.


	9. Chapter Eight: Forward, Back

CHAPTER EIGHT: Moving Forward, Looking Back

AN: I am SO SORRY it has taken me this long to update – finals, graduation, Ireland, work, classes, COMPUTER CRASH!!! Plus, my keyboard's having problems, as is my computer when it comes to recognizing MSWord. I am SO thankful for for letting me backup my stories from the site. Anyway, I figured I'd try and recreate this chapter from what I remember and at least get a few more done before winter break is over. Again, SO sorry about the wait!!! Forgive me if this chapter is short, OOC, and/or crap – I'm out of practice. That and I've been a slacker and haven't watched _Buffy _in ages.

PS: Despite the above comment, I stole a line from Season Seven.

PPS: I'm still recruiting Potentials, but seriously, just a name, age, and appearance will do. If you send me a Mary Sue about how your character and Faith are going to be BFFs, I will give your character hell and she will not survive to see the end of the story. Just to warn you.

……………………

The next three Potentials arrived the following morning, not quite as jet-lagged as the others had been, but just as weary. Their names were Amanda, Jenny, and Katy, and, surprisingly enough, they were good friends already, having had adjoining dorms at their private high school. They may as well have been triplets: They were all the same height and had long brown hair, but Amanda's was straight, Jenny's wavy, and Katy's kinky-curly. Kennedy actually called her "Curly" a few times until all three girls threatened to break her nose if she did so again.

"I like them already," Faith said with a grin.

"Good news!" Buffy said as she came into the crowded kitchen where everyone – Potentials included – was scarfing down breakfast. "I called the high school principal, and he said that those of you who are old enough to attend can attend!"

Claire, Vi, and Shanequa groaned in exasperation, as did Faith and Dawn, when they realized that Kennedy was through with high school and thus stuck with them during the day.

"What about Aura?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah right," Faith said. "Aura Rosenberg-Maclay – _that'll _be easy to explain…."

Dawn glared at her, and Aura giggled.

Buffy arched an eyebrow. "Aura is going to be spending time with Giles helping him research" (Aura frowned) "and training with Faith" (the redhead's face lit up in a grin).

"All right, small fry," Faith said, high-fiving Aura. "What do you want to learn first?"

"Crossbow!" she crowed eagerly.

Both Giles and Buffy paled. "I'd start with martial arts," the blonde Slayer recommended.

"Come on, B, let the kid have some fun. Life is fleeting – especially in our case." Her voice was lighthearted, but her words grave.

Buffy gave her a long, hard look. "Martial arts."

Faith held up her hands in supplication. "Five by five."

There was a knock on the door, and Xander and Anya burst in a moment later, Anya looking very excited. "So! Who's going back-to-school shopping with me? I just got a plastic card that substitutes for money!"

Suddenly it was the high school grads who were groaning their disappointment.

……………………

Because Dawn was off school shopping with Anya and some of the other Potentials, Aura approached the Slayers with her request. The two were just about to practice sparring in the backyard when the girl approached them, uncharacteristically timid.

"Aunt Buffy? Aunt Faith?"

The Slayers turned to her. "Hey, small fry, what's up?" Faith asked, running a hand through her long brown hair.

"I…I want to go see Mama and Mommy."

Faith frowned. "Why don't you make the connection then? You know, do that speaking spell thing?"

Aura shifted from foot to foot. "That's not exactly what I meant…."

Understanding overtook Buffy, and she gently took Aura's hand.

It was a very quiet trio that arrived at the graveyard and walked hand-in-hand through the wrought-iron gates. When they reached the two-in-one grave of the beloved witches, the Slayers stood back and let Aura walk forward on her own. The small redhead knelt at the gravestone, which had replaced Tara's single marker with a larger one bearing both her name and Willow's. Their daughter reached out and gently touched the cold stone.

"Hey," she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. "It's me…."

Buffy watched for a moment, her own eyes brimming, before she silently slipped away down another row of graves. It wasn't long before she reached the headstone of Joyce Summers and knelt before it.

"Hey, Mom," Buffy said hoarsely, staring hard at her mother's name. "Things have been really hectic since…since you left. Willow and Tara are gone now too. I'll…I'll have to see if they can say hello, somehow. Let you know we're thinking of you." She took a deep, shaky breath. "Dawn's starting high school soon, now that the new building is open. It's kinda hard to believe she's almost sixteen already. She's not getting into as much trouble anymore – or at least, not the same kind of trouble. You'd be proud of her."

Buffy sighed, and the tears she had held back broke free and traced quiet trails down her cheeks. "I miss you, Mommy."

She didn't hear the footsteps behind her, but when a comforting hand touched her shoulder, she knew it was Faith's. She reached up and grasped her fellow Slayer's hand gripping it like a lifeline as she continued to stare at the cold, hard stone that marked the ground where her mother lay. It was a long time before she stood up, and when she did, her wobbly legs caused her to stumble into Faith's arms.

The rogue Slayer caught her companion and held her steady as Buffy's head rested on her shoulder. The smell of her hair was temptingly intoxicating, and it took all of Faith's willpower not to bury her nose in the blonde tresses and inhale deeply. Instead, she just held Buffy's body against her own, trying to block out how good it felt and concentrating instead on comforting her fellow Slayer. Aura joined them after a time, but she stood off to the side and said nothing as Faith continued to hold the blonde in her arms.

……………………

Apparently Anya's school shopping list included an extra Potential, 'cause there was a new one when the Slayers and Aura arrived home. Her name was Jessica, and she had blonde hair, braces, and glasses, the entire ensemble seeming to scream "geek" and "total stuck up" at the same time (so Faith commented to Rene and Aura, anyway). Jessica immediately bonded with Kennedy over a mutual dislike and mild fear of Aura and a genuine fear of Faith, and the fact that Kennedy now had someone to keep her from bothering the rest of them secretly made everyone _very _happy.

That afternoon, when everyone else was fawning over their new stuff or playing cards or board games or helping prepare dinner (Giles was the exception, poring over the runic dictionaries he'd requested from the Council), Xander and Dawn sat down at Dawn's computer and collaborated on a surprising joint project. The first time they yelled for Buffy's help, she was a bit irritated, having just been sparring with Faith, but when she saw their project, her eyes filled with tears and she helped them as much as she could. By the time a very late dinner rolled around, Xander and Dawn had typed up the entire story of how the Scoobies had helped reunite Willow and Tara, even recalling the conversations they had with the girls via the speaking spell, though not with complete accuracy. At the end was an explanation of how Aura was Willow and Tara's daughter and how the Scoobies could still contact Willow and Tara. They printed four or five copies, and after dinner, the Potentials that had not heard the story took turns reading. Not long after, Aura found herself in a suffocating embrace from Rene while Jessica looked at the small redhead as if she were a demonic freak of nature. Shanequa and Jenny gazed between Aura and the picture of Willow and Tara, both sad for all three of them, but wishing they could know that kind of love. Amanda was comforting Katy, who had burst into tears.

After that not-so-fun storytime, Buffy and Faith had to start another – the explanation of the First Evil and why the Potentials were in Sunnydale. It was a very disheartened group of girls who went to bed that night, and before she and Xander left for home, Anya offered to bring over various bottles of alcohol to help the mood. Buffy was not amused, though sorely tempted. Faith, however, pulled Anya aside once Buffy was out of earshot, and the two young women came up with what they thought was a pretty good list.

……………………

Faith groaned and rolled over on the couch. Giles was spending the night at Xander and Anya's apartment, so Faith took the opportunity to sleep in the living room. Lately she had found it harder and harder to sleep in Buffy's room, even if they weren't even in the same bed. Just being near the blonde while the two of them were only in pajamas made her all hot and bothered, and she found herself unable to sleep sometimes, she ached for release so much. The rationing of shower time in the house didn't help either – there wasn't nearly enough time or discretion to relieve the ache.

Now that she was alone in the living room, she had the opportunity to deal with it.

The logical part of Faith's brain screamed that it was totally and insanely _wrong _of her on _so _many different levels to get herself off to fantasies of Buffy while on her couch, but her body craved it to the point of desperation, and she knew that if she didn't do something soon, she wouldn't be able to take it any longer, Slayer resilience or no.

The brunette bit her lip as she slid her hand under the blanket and down the front of her shorts and underwear. She smothered a growl as she trailed her finger along her folds, brushing her painfully sensitive clit. The tension was such that she abandon all notion of "taking it slow" to draw out the pleasure and instead drove her finger deep into her center. Closing her eyes, she imagined it was Buffy's slim fingers that were sliding into her core as the blonde hovered over her, planting kisses on her stomach.

Biting her lip even harder, Faith pulled back and reentered with a second finger probing deep as she tried to brush her g-spot. She grazed the edge with her fingertips, and the sensation had her shuddering. She instinctively brought her thumb to her clit and pressed down hard, the sudden surge of pleasure causing her to arch off the couch momentarily. As she continued to thrust within herself, she moved her thumb in circles, alternating pressure in time with her thrusts to match the occasional brush against her sweet spot. Images of Buffy flew through her mind as she continued her ministrations, spreading her legs wider as she did. She imagined for a moment that it was not her thumb pressing against her sensitive nub, but Buffy's tongue, sweeping against it in circles.

The mental image was such that Faith instinctively increased her pace, nearly drawing blood as she continued to bite her lip to stifle a moan. In her minds eye, she could see Buffy lightly nibbling at her clit, and she flicked her own thumbnail against the supersensitive bundle of nerves, trying to simulate the feeling. It was the image of Buffy wrapping her lips around her nub that sent Faith over the edge, forcing her scream to be only a whimper as waves of fantasy-induced ecstasy poured through her shaking body, leaving her gasping, though not quite spent.

She was just starting to recover from the aftershocks when she heard the creaking of footsteps on the stairs. She instantly rolled over and adjusted herself to feign sleep.

"Aunt Faith?"

Faith pretended to shift in her "sleep" before raising her head and faking the raspy voice of someone who has been startled into wakefulness. "Aura? You ok?"

"I thought I heard noises down here, and I wanted to make sure _you _were ok," she said earnestly.

"Oh – uh, it was nothing, small fry. Just a nightmare," Faith assured her, using the cover-all explanation when it came to night noises.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"S'ok, small fry. If you try and get back to sleep, I will."

"Ok. Goodnight, Aunt Faith," Aura whispered as she tiptoed back upstairs.

"G'night," Faith said. When she was sure the girl was gone, she sighed and rolled back over, embarrassed that she had nearly been caught and aggravated that, despite her efforts to the contrary, she still felt the ache of pent-up release. It was only after giving herself several more quick, thoughtless climaxes that she was able to fall into a restless sleep, her desire temporarily dampened (along with her underwear), but most certainly not relieved.


	10. Chapter Nine: Most Fragile, Most Feared

CHAPTER NINE: Most Fragile, Most Feared

AN: Wow, the last chapter was really so bad that I got only one review? Or are y'all still mad that I took so long? In looking back over the story though, I realized that it's not nearly as good as _I Will Always Find You _(and not just because I made an unforgivable grammar error in Chapter Three). I honestly do know where this is going, and I'll try to make things a little more exciting and entertaining.

Still taking requests for being included as a potential (name, age, and looks are all I need). For those of you who sent me Mary-Sues about how you've got a perfect personality trait and are going to be so-and-so's best friend, your character is already scheduled to die.

Hmm, maybe THAT'S why you're all mad at me and aren't reviewing. Sorry (not).

……………………

"It's ironic, Caleb, don't you think?"

The evil priest turned to his master. "What is, Great One?"

"That so much power can be contained in something so weak, and vulnerable. That the Powers That Be would choose something so fragile as their defender."

The First had been slowly pacing back and forth in the cave, deep in thought. Caleb had simply sat unmoving the whole time, awaiting orders, not wishing to disturb his master. After another moment of pacing, the First stopped and turned to its most loyal servant.

"I think that it is time we send another message."

Caleb smiled evilly. "To the Slayers?"

"No. To her."

……………………

"What?! Oh _hell _no, B!"

Faith stood facing Buffy in the living room, hands on her hips, glaring at the older Slayer. "Just 'cause you were called first doesn't make me your inferior! I'm not babysitting for you!"

"Hey," protested Shanequa, frowning. It was just after breakfast, and almost everyone, including the two new potentials, Rowan and Beth, was gathered in the living room to help figure out the next step in their at the moment nonexistent resistance against the first. Only Xander and Dawn were missing, having taken a trip to the hardware store to get material to build triple-decker bunk beds in the Summers' basement.

Buffy sighed. "Look, Faith. We're going to need someone to keep an eye on the potentials while they're in school. It's situated _right above _the Hellmouth."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure vampires have this thing about daylight…" Amanda supplied.

"But vampires aren't the only creatures that can and will come out of the Hellmouth," Buffy countered. You would not be-_lieve _the plethora of demons we've had to face over the years."

Giles raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start using words like 'plethora'?" he asked her, mildly impressed.

"Since I started spending more time around you."

Faith, Aura, and Anya snickered as Giles gave Buffy a rather disapproving look.

"Look, the point is, no one's going to be safe with a Hellmouth open, especially when it's right under the place where most of you will be going to school. I've already planned to get as many cell phones as we can for you to share – _to be used in emergencies_," Buffy stressed, noticing the excitement on the faces of one or two potentials, "but we still need to have someone keep a lookout."

"Why me?" Faith asked with irritation.

"Um, Slayer much?" Vi commented. Faith shot her a brief glare.

"Why not send Aura with us?" Claire asked. "She could pass as a high school student."

"Willow and Tara would positively _murder _us for putting her in that much danger," Buffy replied. Faith nodded fervently in agreement.

Aura frowned from her place next to Anya on the couch. "I can speak for myself, you know."

Anya looked over at her. "Uh, strange child? Your mother took on a hell god who attacked Tara and actually did damage – _twice_. Let's not even talk about what she did to my shop. And mom number two with an axe? Just as dangerous."

"Nix on the badness! No bad memories!" Buffy said, holding her hands over her ears for emphasis.

"I can still take care of myself," Aura said, ignoring both the Slayer and the ex-demon. "I'm not helpless."

"Yes, but this would be looking out for a whole bunch of other people, not just yourself, and we don't want to put that burden on you."

"Oh, but you'll put it on me?"

Buffy glared at Faith for a moment before sighing again. "Ok, all right, we'll figure out something. We still have a week or so left of summer, we can start training them in martial arts and see how things go from there."

"Good – I need some exercise."

……………………

So it was that Faith and Buffy herded all the potentials outside for training that afternoon while Anya and Aura called both encouraging and not-so-encouraging comments from the sidelines.

As it turned out, some of the Potentials were actually quite talented. By the same token, however, many were not. Both Buffy and Faith marveled at the lack of skill some of them had, and even began to wonder if the council had screwed up somewhere along the line. Jessica couldn't throw a punch or kick to save her life, and was easily exhausted. Faith had to admit that Kennedy threw a decent punch, but her kicks were far off the mark, and her defense was terrible. Claire and Vi merely lacked in confidence but Faith was intent on making sure that that changed.

The rest of the Potentials were surprisingly adept. Shanequa grew up with three older brothers, so her chokehold was nearly strong enough to incapacitate Buffy and keep Faith occupied for a few seconds. Rowan couldn't punch or kick, but she was _fast_, beating Faith in a race _and _dodging almost all of her attacks when they were sparring. Beth had a terrific offense, but her defense was weak, and though she landed some good hits on Buffy, she didn't last long in a match. Katy couldn't punch and her offense was weak, but the force of her kick sent Faith flying. Jenny could attack and retreat faster than you could blink, and her punch was a force to be reckoned with.

Amanda and Rene were the best, both of them having had martial arts training before. They caught on to new moves quickly, and in a two-on-two spar against Buffy and Faith, they lasted for nearly ten minutes before they lost to the Slayers. Everyone applauded nonetheless, and Faith and Buffy were impressed.

During the entire afternoon, Faith had been surreptitiously watching Buffy as much as she could. The way her muscles rippled as she blocked and threw punches as a thin sheen of sweat shone on her body made the younger Slayer want her all the more. Her heart skipped a beat every time Buffy laughed, and though she didn't want to admit it, Faith thought that she may actually be developing a soft side for her fellow Slayer. She forced herself to push those thoughts aside and throw herself into training. She couldn't allow herself any weaknesses, and that's what those emotions were. Weaknesses got you nowhere. Weaknesses got you dead.

……………………

After their first training session, the girls raced to see who could get to the two showers first, some debating on doubling up, while Buffy and Faith compared notes. They agreed that, if they were to be effective, they would teach everyone the most basic skills, but have the, focus on their individual talents as well. They also decided that, seeing the coordination – or lack thereof – of some of the potentials – that they would hold off on sharp objects for awhile.

By the time dinner rolled around, Xander and Dawn had managed to complete one-and-a-half sturdy bunk beds for the girls to sleep in. There were loud arguments about who would get to sleep in the three bunks of the completed bed when Faith suggested over the din that they all go to the backyard and spar for the privilege. Buffy mouthed an extremely grateful 'thank you' as all the girls herded outside for there gladiatorial matches, leaving Buffy and Faith the time (though not necessarily the hot water) to take their showers (separately, to Faith's great relief).

The exhausted potentials trudged in just after sunset with Jenny, Amanda, and Rene having won the privilege of the bunk. By that time they were all so exhausted that they fell asleep within seconds anyway, giving the other members of the house much-needed peace and quiet. Giles actually halted his research so he could formulate a plan to keep the house as noise-free as possible. Anya, though she didn't live with the Summers, immediately jumped in to help, Dawn right at her side.

……………………

"I know you're there," Aura said, turning from her place on the back porch to look off into the yard. It was a little past midnight, and it was almost completely silent outside, spare the sound of the soft footsteps of the young girl. After her words echoed in the dark for a moment, a black-coated, bleached-blonde figure stepped from the shadows.

"Hey, lil' bit. Buffy know you're out here by yourself?"

"She and Faith are patrolling," Aura said calmly, not bothered by the vampire's appearance in the slightest. "Dawn's been trying to get her to introduce you to the potentials."

Spike made a face. "The sad thing is, I _can _actually think of a lot worse fates than meeting a gaggle of girls." He paused. "What are _you _doing out here."

"You first."

"Isn't it obvious? I'm watching your place. It's an old pastime I'm quite fond of, mostly 'cause it pisses off the little blonde Slayer. Now, how's a little thing like you getting into trouble tonight?"

"Patrolling." When Spike raised his eyebrows at her, she added, "as a sentry. I'm circling the house. Want to do rounds with me?"

The vampire paused for a moment, giving Aura a calculating look. "Ok," he finally said with a shrug. He went right and Aura went left as they continued the young girl's circle of the house.

About two hours later, when Aura and Spike were crossing in front of Buffy's front door, Aura froze, and her head snapped in the direction of the street. Noticing her halt, Spike stopped mid-stride and went to stand next to her, peering into the shadows. They both stiffened and took attack stances when a tall, malformed creature came shambling out of the darkness.

It was one of the uber-vamps, gray-skinned and gaunt-faced, its ragged clothing hanging off it's thin but freakishly muscular form. Aura and Spike hardened their defensive stance, tensing up, but the creature did not lunge for them; it walked slowly to the middle of the road and stopped. For a moment, the two opposing parties stared at each other before the creature's mouth twisted in a hideous representation of a smile that revealed small but sharp, pointed teeth.

"I bring a message from the First," it rasped into the night. Its voice was slow, as if it had never spoken before, and had the combined sound of nails caught in a blender and the hacking of someone coughing up blood. "It is for the girl."

"If the First wants to tell me something, it can say it to my face," Aura replied coldly. Spike shot her a quick, sideways glance. The icy anger and hatred written on her face was so fierce that even _he _flinched.

The creature smiled wider. "The First welcomes its sister to this battleground, and looks forward to meeting you face-to-face."

Aura's eyes flashed in pure fury, and a split second later she had thrust her hand before her, sunlight pulsing from her fingertips in a violent beam. The power of her rage was such that the vampire exploded into dust instantly, faster even than the destruction of a normal vampire.

Spike looked at her with fear-tinged admiration as she lowered her hand. "You ever hear the phrase don't shoot the messenger – or eat, in my case?"

"Doesn't apply here," she replied, her voice steely.

There was silence for a moment as Spike continued to look at her. The creatures words had made him remember – made him recall just what it was that the First feared even more than the Slayers and the potentials. The words made him realize exactly who and what Aura was. Feeling his gaze, the girl looked up at him sadly.

"When are you going to tell them?" Spike asked after several full minutes of silence.

"When they figure it out for themselves."

The vampire nodded, and without another word, he turned and vanished into the night as Aura turned and went back to the house.


	11. Chapter Ten: Guilty Progress

CHAPTER TEN: Guilty Progress

AN: A HUGE thank you goes out to watdaforks for her awesome review and support for the story. Much xoxo from me!!! Also, if my descriptions of the potentials seem scarce, it's because there are so many of them, as of course there are in the show. I dunno how the writers kept track of them all. Apologies for any and all OOC.

PS: The stuff about phonetics and pictorial runes is mostly made up. There were some ancient writing systems – and some current ones too – where symbols represent entire words, and there's not really a phonetic alphabet. The rest of it I am pulling out of my…er, thin air. Same with a random history reference.

PPS: I keep forgetting/debating whether or not I should capitalize "potentials," so I'm just going to stop doing so. Easier to remember.

……………………

Much to Buffy's horror, the next morning brought three new potentials – Alex, Chessie, and Carly, all of whom were in high school. Carly had long blonde hair, was shy, and was shorter even than Aura, but when Kennedy made fun of her for this, Carly punched her in the stomach so hard that she was actually thrown back a few steps. She earned Faith's instant respect. Chessie was an obvious emo with a shaved head and a bad attitude. Alex was tall – almost as tall as Xander – with wavy brown hair and glasses. Dawn liked her immediately, because her green eyes had small flecks of gold in them.

"You're just like me!!!" Dawn said excitedly. Alex made it a point to avoid her for the rest of the day.

While Dawn, Faith, Xander worked on bed construction, the rest of the potentials went outside to train with Buffy. That left Giles, Anya, and Aura to pore over much-neglected research.

Anya and Aura were hunched over a book about demons, looking not only for the uber-vamps but other demons that resided in the Hellmouth. Giles was still struggling with the runic passage Aura had seen him working on a week or so before. None of the dictionaries the council had sent him had had runes in them that matched the mysterious ones in the text, and Giles was reduced to simply staring at it as he searched his memory for any hint of knowledge he could use.

"You know, it _is_ possible to sweat blood if you think too hard," Anya commented, noticing his dilemma.

Giles gave her a withering look. "Anya, if you really feel so inclined to add your insight to this matter, could you at least make it useful?"

"Ok." Anya looked out into the empty living room and yelled, "D'HOFFRYN!!!"

The Vengeance Lord appeared a moment later, though looking more congenial than perturbed. "Why hello, Anya, Giles, and – " The minute his eyes lit on Aura, he took a step back.

"Yeah, that's everyone's reaction," Anya commented.

D'Hoffryn and Aura stared at each other for a long, tense moment before, surprisingly enough, D'Hoffryn smiled gently. "You must be Willow and Tara's daughter," he said, surprising both Giles and Anya.

Aura smiled and nodded. "I'm Aura," she said, holding out her hand. D'Hoffryn stepped forward and took it.

"D'Hoffryn, Lord of Vengeance. It is very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

At that moment, Kennedy and Jessica walked into the living room to see what Anya had been yelling about. Upon seeing D'Hoffryn, they both screamed in terror and bolted for the back door. The Vengeance Lord watched them go in disgust.

"_They _are potential Slayers?" he asked disdainfully. "The standards must really have been lowered over the past two thousand years or so."

"Don't worry, they're not all that pathetic," Anya said. "Do you have a minute or so? Giles needs some help."

The Watcher in question stared at Anya in rather ashamed indignation as D'Hoffryn came to the table and sat down next to the Watcher. "Sure, I've got some time," the demon said as he looked over at what Giles was reading. "What do we have here? Oh! The Prophecies of the Elders!"

Startled from his glaring contest with Anya, the Watcher turned to look back at the text as well while Anya and Aura went back to their research. "Er, yes," Giles replied. "I've been able to translate all the other runes except for this passage here. I've never seen runes like these before. Aura said they were in Latin, and so the scribes used different runes as opposed to the phonetics they used for Old English."

D'Hoffryn smiled approvingly at Aura, who smiled in return, before looking back at the passage. "She's right. Though these translate back to Latin, they're not phonetic runes. They hearken back to pictorial runes, ones that symbolize entire words as opposed to the sounds that make them. It's most likely that all of the prophecies of the Elders were originally written with pictorial runes, but this particular passage wasn't able to be translated."

"But why would this passage be specifically in Latin?" Giles asked.

D'Hoffryn shrugged. "Latin is considered a divine language, and it's possible that this particular passage in the prophecies was considered holy by the Elders, and thus recorded with divine runic symbols, which specifically correspond to Latin."

"And…can you read it?"

D'Hoffryn gave Giles a slightly scornful look. "I'm a Vengeance Lord, not a scholar. All I can really tell you about this particular passage is that it's written in divine runic, so you should be looking for a book on divine runes or a more detailed translation of runic properties."

"What does the first part of the passage say, anyway?" Anya asked.

"Well," Giles began, finding his place on the page, "it says, 'The First Evil knows only one enemy, and that is the Slayer and all who may come after her, for the Slayer is the force that holds back the tide of evil that ever threatens to crash upon the earth. However, when the scales of battle are unbalanced, the side of the Slayer is joined by…' then there's the passage in divine runes, and then, 'One fights the battle, while the other wins the war.'"

There was a pause as everyone thought for a moment. "But…the war against evil can never really be won," Anya said. "There will always be evil, 'cause if there's no evil, then there's no good, and things wouldn't balance out."

"Ah, but battles do not need to be part of wars," D'Hoffryn said. "The battle between good and evil is forever ongoing, but only once in a while does the First decide to wage war on the world above. When it believes it's strong enough, it makes its push against the Slayer and those who may become the Slayer. So far in history, the Slayers have always succeeded in pushing the First back. However, the prophecy says that 'when the scales of battle are unbalanced,' then the universe somehow tips the scales back to equality, providing whatever is hidden in those runes. This aid could be the continuous opposition against evil – whatever it is that pushes the good to fight back."

"Since when do you know the doctrines of good and evil?" Anya asked, surprised and skeptical.

D'Hoffryn waved his hand negligently. "Vengeance Lord or not, there are _some _rules I have to follow, and in order to follow them, I have to know how they work. I think I nearly failed that lesson, actually."

"You went to school to be a vengeance demon?" Aura asked, completely thrown for a loop, despite the voluminous amounts of knowledge she supposedly contained.

"Well, to be a demon lord, you have to know how everything balances out, or else things could get more out of hand than we try to make them in the first place. The same thing goes for good entities – too much forgiveness can be just as dangerous as too much vengeance."

"Ugh, like several hundred years ago when the saint in Sweden made everyone all benevolent and the murderers had a field day 'cause they were forgiven and set free?" Anya asked, wrinkling her nose. "Don't get me wrong, it was fun to watch, but all the smiling made me nauseous."

"How could murderers have a field day if everyone was benevolent?" Aura asked.

"They apologized to their murder victims before they killed them, and the victims forgave them before they died." Seeing Aura's totally baffled expression, Anya smirked. "Yeah, that was the saint's expression, right before it turned to the 'oh-my-God-what-have-I-done' look. I wish cameras had been around back then."

"Yes, that was a rather nasty incident," D'Hoffryn said with a grimace, rubbing his forehead as if remembering the headache it had caused him. "We had to balance it out with the French Revolution."

Anya's face lit up in a rather wicked grin. "Now _that _was _fun_!"

Giles looked at her like she'd grown a second head while Aura was obviously trying to contain a fit of laughter. D'Hoffryn simply rolled his eyes.

After the three researchers promised him pizza, the Vengeance Lord sat down to help look over the books with them as well as make chit-chat – highly sophisticated chit-chat, but chit-chat nonetheless – with Aura.

……………………

"So when are you going to tell her?" Dawn asked from her position as beam support.

"When am I going to tell who what?" Faith asked, pausing her hammering for a second. Xander took over and secured the boards so Dawn could let go. They had been working up a storm, and they were on triple-decker bunk bed number three.

Dawn gave the dark-haired Slayer a very pointed look. "Please – do you think we hadn't noticed?" Xander tried to keep from bursting into a wide grin and barely succeeded. Faith still caught the hidden mirth on his face.

"I don't know _what _you're talking about," the Slayer insisted, and went to hammer in the next nail. She missed by a mile, hitting her thumb instead.

Xander and Dawn both chuckled as Faith swore vividly, sucking on her wounded thumb. "Look, you obviously like her," Dawn reasoned, "and you've shown it too. Didn't the two of you get a little heated during our Willow-and-Tara-uniting work?"

"That was just the Slayer bond…shit." Faith's eyes went wide, realizing how horrifically she'd given herself away. "Slayer bond. That's all," she mumbled before going back to building the bed – carefully.

"I dunno, I've seen you spare her a couple more-than-friendly glances," Dawn smirked. "And did you sleep in the living room alone for a reason?"

The normally unflappable Slayer's eyes went wide as dinner plates as she blushed twelve shades of red. "How…who…"

"Oh please," Dawn rolled her eyes. "It wasn't hard to figure out, seeing as I'd already figured everything else out."

Faith looked at Xander pleadingly. "Is it that obvious?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. Then again, I know that lustful look on your face firsthand." Faith and Dawn both shuddered. Xander laughed at first, then frowned. "Hey," he protested.

"I did it to fuck with all of your heads," Faith said regretfully. "You know that, right?" She hung her head. "I…I'm sorry."

Xander clapped her shoulder briefly. "It's over and done, and you've more than made up for it, helping save my best friend from Hell and all. And if I get to watch your future activities with a certain someone…"

"Oh you _wish_," Faith said, pushing him playfully as she rolled her eyes. "If there _are _any 'future activities,'" she added, drooping slightly.

"If you'd just throw her up against a wall and kiss her already, said activities could take place sooner rather than later," Dawn remarked offhandedly, her nonchalant tone causing Xander and Faith to look at her in total disbelief.

"Uh, I'm typically your 'come-on-strong' person, but that may be a little _too _strong, Slayer or no."

"What, afraid, she'll push _you _against the wall?"

"Jeez, Dawn!" Xander said incredulously. "When did you get to be so…so…"

"Naughty?" Faith supplied with a wry grin. "Too much time around me, maybe."

"You'd better believe it!" Dawn grinned. "Anyway, let's finish these and then make a beeline for the showers – who knows, maybe Buffy'll share one with you."

"DAWN!!!"

……………………

Dinner consisted of, as promised to D'Hoffryn, lots and lots of pizza. Though some of the potentials were downright terrified, Kennedy and Jessica eating in the living room so as to avoid him, but most of the girls were fairly unfazed. Katy even sat next to him and asked about what she would need to do to exact vengeance on a few people – five or six, to be exact. The Vengeance Lord, having been short on business lately, was _more _than happy to help, and even Anya chipped in on possible exaction possibilities. Other potentials eventually asked about vengeance too, and by the end of the night, a rather enthusiastic D'Hoffryn left with a long list of vengeance to exact.

……………………

Faith, to her horror, was unable to sleep in the living room that night due to sleeping arrangements, and was once again forced to sleep in Buffy's room. Sleep, however, was the last thing that she could do or even think about. Just being in the same room as Buffy and not being able to express her affections the way she wanted to had her wound so tightly she thought she would lose control any second. Especially when Buffy was moaning so…

Wait, _moaning_? Faith lifted her head from the floor to look over at the sleeping Slayer, who was twisting under the covers, a contented smile on her face. Curious still, the brunette got up and crept over to her bed and discovered exactly why Buffy looked so happy. Her legs were spread wide beneath the sheets, and her hand was working hard between her legs. She was sound asleep, but she must have been having a hell of a dream. Faith blushed furiously and had just turned around to lie down when –

"Faith…"

It was all the younger Slayer needed. Without thinking, she gently pulled the sheets away to see Buffy's hand rubbing herself through her shorts. Faith knelt beside her, reaching over and pushing the blonde's hand away before settling her own where it had been. The feel of the heat emanating from the Slayer's center, even through the fabric of her pajamas, sent a bolt of desire straight to Faith's core. She immediately reacted, reaching her other hand between her own legs as she began to massage Buffy firmly.

Estimating where the blonde's clit was, she pushed her fingertips hard against it, rubbing in a circular motion. Buffy whimpered in response, bucking her hips towards Faith's hand. Faith gritted her teeth and moved both hands faster, her own climax building just from watching Buffy writhe beneath her. The Slayer's breath was becoming shallower, and the speed of her movements indicated just how close she really was. Captivated by the beauty lying before her, reacting to what _she _was doing, Faith rubbed both she and Buffy _just right_, sending them both over the edge.

Buffy let out a series of high whimpers as she continued to surge against Faith's still-moving hand, even in her sleep desperate to ride out her release to its fullest. Faith merely hissed her pleasure through clenched teeth, not wanting to wake Buffy with her own climax. It was only when they both had finished, sighing as they relaxed, that Faith realized exactly what it was she had just done.

Horrified, Faith leapt from the bed, but not before gently pulling the covers back over Buffy's sleeping and satisfied form. She sprinted to the bathroom and vomited dinner into the toilet, appalled at her actions. She had just violated Buffy in the worst way. She was a horrible, wretched person who hadn't changed a bit from her old, vile self. She scrubbed her hands red-raw before curling up in the bathtub, sobbing quietly.

It was the only reason she fell into a fitful sleep: the crying finally wore her out.

In the next room, Buffy opened her eyes, done feigning sleep. She had woken up at the first touch of Faith's hand, but kept her eyes closed, guiltily enjoying the feel of her fellow Slayer's hand between her legs. Only now, lying in bed as she heard Faith sprint for the bathroom, did she realize how horrible her deception had been. She should have just grabbed her, kissed her, and touched her back, both of them wide awake and looking into each other's eyes. She never should have let Faith think she was asleep the whole time.

It was Buffy's turn to stay awake, her tumultuous thoughts eating away at her through the night.


End file.
